


Blades are Dangerous in a Lady's Hands

by acPeanuts



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/M, Gen, Idiots in Love, Katie is a badass, Marriage of Convenience, Prince!Connor, Prince!Travis, Princess Aide!Katie, Swordfighting, Tratie, more demigods will appear in the future, travisxkatie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-06-04 23:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6680452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acPeanuts/pseuds/acPeanuts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katie Gardner, the Princess' aide, is not at all fond of the idea of sending her beloved Princess off with some noble boy. Regardless of who it is. But when the princes of the Hermes kingdom come in pursuit of her hand in marriage, her entire perspective changes. Yep, she would much rather send her Princess of with some pompous noble than with this pair of tricksters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Princess' Aide

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! Nice to meet you all! Thanks for taking the time to check out my fic :) I'm not the best at updating frequently, not gonna lie, but I can assure you guys that I plan to stick with it until the end. So thanks again for taking the time to read this! Please feel free to leave feedback, comments, requests or suggestions.
> 
>  
> 
> This is what happens when I watch the 5 anime episodes and read the entire manga of Akagami no Shirayuki-hime and then proceed to try and write something for Travis and Katie.

When times are hard, Katie Gardner tends to her flowers. She does nothing else. She calls it productive procrastination. Lacking money? Failing her classes? Problems with the chief? Whatever it is, she'll spend hours gardening and pretending her worries don't exist. So when Carrie found her inside the biggest palace greenhouse, bent over pink pelagornium flowers just 10 minutes before breakfast time she couldn't say she was surprised.

That didn't stop her from screaming bloody murder.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THINGS GOOD DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Katie jumped to her feet in alarm and tried dusting her muddy apron.

"S-s-s-sorry!" She squeaked. "I-"

"IT IS NEARLY TIME FOR BREAKFAST AND JUST LOOK AT THE STATE OF YOU! YOU'RE COVERED IN DIRT, YOUR HAIR HAS COME UNDONE, AND THAT SMELL! GOODNESS!"

"I was just about to go-"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING STILL STANDING THERE? GET MOVING OR YOU WON'T MAKE IT IN TIME AND HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT I'LL DO WITH YOU THEN!"

"Yes, I am really sorry," she curtsied before running away. Darn, she'd forgotten to look at the time. Katie ran as fast as her legs would carry her, through beautiful gardens with rock-lined paths and big sturdy trees she used to climb as a child, until she reached a small well from which she hurriedly splashed some water on her face and hands before heading to her room.

Living in the castle, even as a servant, was considered the greatest luxury amongst the people of the Demeter kingdom. Their kind queen made sure everyone lived comfortably so that they would carry out their jobs as efficiently as possible. Katie's room was a lot prettier and more spacious than what she'd been used to when she lived in town. A soft bed with a mattress and clean white sheets, a wooden desk and chair, a nice little fireplace, a mirror, and her wardrobe. Oh! And a window overlooking Princess Miranda's flower field. This time, though, she didn't have time to waste admiring the beautiful view. The instant she closed the door, off came her dirty apron and orange dress and, without removing her sword and undershirt, she slipped on her green tunic and black pants, tucking them into grey knee-high boots. And she was out and running again, expertly braiding her long brown hair back as she climbed the stairs two at a time. Finally, she reached the entrance to Princess Miranda's quarters and knocked on the door.

"Your Highness? I'm coming in!"

Katie opened the big wooden door to find the Pincess and her aide, Isaac Cedar, already sitting at the table having breakfast.

"Good morning, Katie," said Miranda with a smile as she gestured to the empty seat besides her.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well, Miranda? You look a little pale," she said, frowning as she took her seat and placed her hand on the Princess' forehead. As cool as it's always been.

"I feel fine, don't worry, Isaac already checked," she smiled again, blue eyes twinkling.

"Yes I did," Isaac grumbled through a mouthful of blueberry tart. "You were late. Did you oversleep again, Katie?"

"I apologize for not being on time. It won't happen again," Katie stated monotonously before reaching for a slice of warm bread and cream cheese.

"You said so the last time," Isaac complained.

"I really mean it this time." And she did, for despite trusting Isaac with the Princess' safety wholeheartedly, she knew it must be quite a horrific experience to be woken up by him. As long as she was on time from now on, Miranda wouldn't have to go through that ever again.

It's not that Katie didn't like Isaac, she really did hold him dear, but he wasn't very fond of being friendly. He always preferred books and training over human beings. Brown mass of curls over skin the color of amber and pale green eyes that hold an air of superiority; while he wasn't bad looking in the slightest, he was incapable of holding a conversation for more than 5 seconds with anyone if it wasn't work-related. Katie feared he would end up a bachelor working with her and Miranda for the rest of their lives.

"I have something to tell you," Miranda said out of the blue. She gently placed her fork on her plate and folded her white hands over her lap. She was a real beauty, with hair as dark as ravens and piercing blue eyes, and a really smart person, too. Katie knew she could be a nearly perfect ruler, but she also knew she was never going to inherit the kingdom. Instead, her cousin, Peter, would, which pained Katie more than she dared admit. "We are expecting visitors this Sunday."

"Visitors?" Asked Katie. "We weren't informed of anyone arriving, and Sunday is just 2 days away. Did they not send word beforehand?"

"They did, apparently," Miranda said, her eyebrows creasing. "My cousin knew but he didn't utter a word until last night."

"That's odd," Isaac said. "Who are these visitors? Did he say?"

"Yes, he did say. They come from Hermes, a kingdom not far from here. Travis and Connor Stoll, the two Princes of Hermes."

Katie nearly choked.

"The Stoll princes? Wha- does Lord Peter have business with them?"

"No, not really," Miranda mumbled, not quite meeting their eyes. She started twisting a strand of dark hair nervously. "They're...they are actually here to see me. They...are looking for a wife."

"Looking for a-?! Surely you jest!" Isaac exclaimed.

"I most certainly do not."

"But Hermes?! Since when have we been on good terms with the kingdom of Hermes?! What about Athena? Apollo? Since when did Hermes even become an option?!" Katie knew she was probably overstepping her boundaries, but she didn't care. What was Peter thinking, sending Miranda off to a kingdom with a reputation such as Hermes'?

"I don't recall us ever trading with them. We didn't even fight alongside them in the last war! Why Hermes out of all places?!" Isaac snapped.

"Well, why not? Hermes is a perfectly respectable kingdom and the princes are both rumored to be as cunning and good-looking as one could hope to be," Miranda shrugged. "I guess they do have a reputation for thievery, but those are minor rumors-"

"Minor rumors?!"

"AND if they were to be true then I can always do my best to change that," Miranda stared fiercely at them both, one by one, shutting them up at once. "If a prince from a kingdom as big as Hermes were to ask for my hand, I would most likely end up engaged. You knew it was going to happen sooner or later, that I would be sent away to be married and settle in my husband's kingdom. And frankly, why not Hermes? Yes, I guess it is quite far away and most kingdoms don't say the nicest things about them, but I've never met the princes and maybe one of them won't be as completely pretentious and unbearable as the nobles from nearby kingdoms. So, please, don't be so quick to stand against the idea. If my mother and cousin want it, it is my duty to do as they wish."

There was silence in the room for a couple of seconds before the two aides locked eyes and found their voice again.

"You keep saying 'I', Your Highness, but you forget," Katie stands up before going down on one knee, closely followed by Isaac. "We swore to remain by your side till life permits it."

"We swore to protect you from whatever comes your way," Isaac affirmed. "And, if Your Highness allows it, we'll follow you to the kingdom of Hermes and wherever you go in the years to come."

Miranda smiled, content, stood up and curtsied.

"Then stand. We must begin preparations for our visitors' stay at the Castle of Demeter. Lets make sure to have the best impression on them possible."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stolls! Katie is the best swordswoman in the land! Connor is a cinnamon roll!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk to me, I'm a lonely potato!  
> Thanks for reading!

Saturday night, long after Princess Miranda had fallen asleep, Katie walked through dark corridors soundlessly. She should have gone to bed hours ago, but she'd been immersed in a book about medicinal herbs that Isaac had picked up for her that morning and lost track of time. The entire castle seemed to be on a standstill, only the night guard was still awake, but even vegetables are rowdier than that lot. Katie got to her room and, careful not to let it creak to much, opened the wooden door enough for her to slip in before closing it again. She got into her pajamas and slipped under the warm covers of her bed, cuddling her pillow and her trusty sword.

The minutes ticked by but sleep wouldn't come for Katie. Her wandering brain kept her awake with thoughts of their kingdom, the princess, the future king...

She knew the kingdom of Demeter was a land of many allies. Despite being small, its great variety of flora and fauna and it's geographical position gave them a huge advantage. To the north the kingdom of Hera, powerful and proud; to the south, Athena, known for their beautiful architecture, academies, and battle strategies; to the east the kingdom of Poseidon, near the sea; to the west Ares; another valuable ally in war. As long as they maintained good relationships with this surrounding kingdoms, Demeter would remain safe and powerful.

So what was Lord Peter doing setting Miranda up with the princes of Hermes?

He'd refused offers from Prince Malcolm of Athena, Prince Mark of Ares, Prince Michael of Apollo, and even one from a Prince of Hera, clearly stating to them all that the Princess of Demeter was still too young to be married, but that when the time came he'd be sure to inform them. And suddenly he decides to invite the Stolls?!

Katie tried but she just couldn't see the sense in Peter's decision.

Hermes wasn't known for their riches, their beauty, their army, or their advantageous position. No, Hermes was known for being too big and for being referred to as the kingdom of thieves. Supposedly, they relayed on less-than-honest methods when trading or selling goods.

They lacked order.

And Katie didn't like it.

After what felt like an entire century going by, her thoughts began to wander and wander until finally she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

-

-

-

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"KATIE?! KATIE ARE YOU AWAKE?!"

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Katie awoke with a start long before sunrise. Someone was trying to break her door down.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"KATIE?!"

She jumped off her bed and hurried to open the door. There stood Isaac, already dressed and ready to start the day: a sight that annoyed Katie to the point of wanting to throw herself off the highest tower.

"What?" She growled, violently rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"What do you mean what? We've got work to do, what are you still doing in your pajamas? Hurry up and get changed! I'll wait for you downstairs."

That's right, it's Sunday. We've got visitors.

She splashed her face with water from a bucket she'd brought in the day before and hurried to get ready.

"Seriously, they are not getting here until afternoon! No need for such a fuss," she grumbled as she brushed her long brown hair and pulled it back into its usual complicated braid.

She slipped on a nice and pretty purple tunic, tucked her black pants into her boots and ran off to meet Isaac.

"I'm ready," she stated once she'd found the boy.

"Good, let's go get Miranda."

Katie felt an odd sense of pride when she noticed he was wearing some of his nicer clothes and he'd even washed his crazy hair that morning. She gave his shoulder a pat and a thumbs up.

"You look nice!"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" He complained, his face burning up. "And you don't look to shabby yourself."

The princess' chambers were seconds away from theirs. Once there, Isaac excused himself to go check on breakfast while Katie took on the job of waking the princess up.

"Rise and shine, Miranda! We've got one hell of a morning ahead of us!" She exclaimed, gently shaking the girl awake.

"Urgh," she groaned through a mass of black hair.

"Yes yes, good! Up you go!" Katie pulled her upright. "Right, time to get ready. I thought about this last night but couldn't decide between the dark red gown or the cream-colored one with the green satin belt. They are both pretty formal dresses, but the red one's heavier. Which one would you prefer?"

"Green," she said, followed by a long yawn.

"Okay!" Katie rushed to fetch the dress from the big wardrobe. "Come on Miranda, we still have to do your hair. Stand up, your highness."

-

-

-

The castle was bustling with preparations for the visiting princes. All morning long, Miranda, Katie, and Isaac had dodged people left and right as they made their way around the castle checking that everything was perfect and occasionally helping out with an errand or two. Some time before lunchtime, desperate for a break, Katie had offered to go cook a meal for the three of them. Having been a great cook herself in the past, Katie was met with exclamations of joy from both her friends and so, feeling quite flattered, she set off to make a delicious lunch for her friends

Fry the vegetables. Add the tuna. Roll the dough. Add the filling. Bake.

Leaving the pie in the hands of a kind maid, Katie left the kitchen with every intention of finding Isaac and Miranda and informing them that lunch was ready, but the instant she turned into the hidden corridor to take the secret spiral staircase leading directly into the Princess' chambers, she crashed into something and was sent sprawling to the ground.

"Oi! Watch where you're-"

In less than a second, Katie was off her bottom, sword in hand and a strong grip on the arm of the man she now held against the wall.

No one's allowed here except for Isaac and me. I've never seen him before. How did he get in?!

"Answer me is you value your own life; who are you and what business do you have here?" Katie said quietly and as cooly as she could. The man under her grip groaned in pain.

"Lady-ah! Lady, you're hurting my arm," he gasped, squirming to free himself.

"Answer me!"

"Fine, fine," he blurted. "My name is Travis!"

"Travis what? Who sent you?"

"Nobody sent me-"

"Am I supposed to believe that?"

The man was wearing odd clothes, really baggy with lots of strings, plus his face was partially covered by a big grey scarf. His boots were old, battered, and muddy. He carried a big satchel on one side and a sword strapped to his belt. He was tall and lanky, with a mess of slightly orange curls for hair and pale skin. Paler than Katie had ever seen.

He looked suspicious in every way.

"Look, lady, I didn't mean to wrong you, I apologize for whatever I did. I was simply lost, so could you please let go of my arm?!" He begged desperately. Katie did, careful to keep her sword an inch from his neck as he turned to face her. The instant his eyes locked into her face, he grinned lopsidedly.

"Demeter has some pretty gals, eh?"

Katie strengthen her grip on her blade to strike.

"No! Sorry! Don't kill me, you'll regret it later!" He grimaced.

"How did you find this place?" She snapped, glaring straight up into his dark brown eyes.

"This castle is similar to the one in Hermes," he said. "There are hidden passageways there just like this one. I was lost and thought I'd try it, see where it lead, but the door upstairs was locked."

"Hermes? You're from the kingdom of Hermes?!" Katie exclaimed.

"That's right."

"Do you come with the princes' party? Are they already here or did you come ahead?"

"Would it be right to say both?"

"What does that-oh, did you get separated on the way here?" She wondered.

"Yes, we got separated. I got here a couple of hours ago. Some of us wanted to ride on horseback instead of carriage," he chuckled. "Listen, Lady, I am as innocent as can be. Ask anyone from Hermes. Heck, you could ask a prince if you wanted to. So could you let me go now? I won't cause any more trouble and someone's bound to start looking for me soon."

"Let go of-?! Do you realize you could lose your job if I report this?!" She exclaimed, baffled.

"I doubt that'll happen any time soon."

Katie stared at him long and hard. His smile was infuriating.

"Alright, I'll let you go this time," she sighed, retreating her sword. "You've already made me late to...anyway, count yourself as lucky, Travis. And be more careful next time."

"Sure thing! Thanks, lady!" He waved before jogging away from her.

"What an idiot," Katie muttered. She sheathed her sword and ran up the stairs, unlocking the door at the top and pushing it open.

"Sorry I took so long, Miranda, I was-"

"That's not of importance right now," the princess interrupted, standing from her seat by the fire and nodding at Isaac.

"We've just received word that the princes of Hermes will be arriving sooner than we'd expected," he explained. "We should get going if we plan on being there to welcome them."

"Oh, alright then, let's get going," Katie said. She considered mentioning her encounter with the young servant from Hermes kingdom, but Isaac and the princess were already on a deep conversation about the possible activities they could plan to entertain the guests.

Well, I can tell them about it any other time.

The trio climbed down the many flights of stairs leading to the entrance hall. The huge entrance hall in Demeter Castle was marvelous, with high ceilings decorated with paintings of beautiful mountains and valleys with flowers and thick carpets the color blue. The main staircase, on the opposite side of the heavy doors, divided into two separate staircases, made of white marble with bits of blue. There were suits of armor all through the hall, as if guiding your path from the door to the staircase. It was beautiful and sorta intimidating.

They stood there chatting looking over the plan (they would welcome the princes as graciously as possible, the princess would invite them to have tea with her later that afternoon, so they would have some time to rest after their long journey before engaging in social events, and finally they would be shown to their rooms. Simple as can be.) when suddenly there was the sound of trumpets and two guards hurried to open the great white doors.

"They're here," Miranda stated. She starting walking with her head held high and quick steps, Katie on her left and Isaac on her right, out into the cold early-December air. They stood atop the entrance steps and watched as a pair of horses pulling a wide, black carriage came to a stop before them. A lackey stepped forward to open the carriage door, but before his hand could even graze the latch, it was thrown open, missing his face by a breath, and a tall man, wearing enough clothes to clothe an entire country, stumbled off, followed by another man equally bundled in coats and scarves.

"Is it never cold in Hermes?" Katie whispered to her friends in awe.

"Oh, sorry, lad, didn't mean to do that," the taller man said, patting the dazed lackey on the arm. Then, he turned to face the princess and her aides standing at the top of the stairs, took off his hat revealing a mass of orange curls, and bowed. "Your Highness."

The princess curtsied, Isaac bowed, but Katie found she couldn't move a muscle. Her breath caught on her throat, blood rushed to her head. As the prince stood up straight he noticed her staring and rose an eyebrow. Orange. Orange hair. Unnaturally pale skin. Is this a joke, Travis?!

Willing her mouth to keep shut, she bowed politely, but she couldn't stop the look of pure indignation that crossed her face when she looked up and found him smiling amiably at her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said.

"The pleasure is ours," Miranda said, smiling graciously.


	3. For being extremely rude, I apologize!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor continues to be a cinnamon roll :3

Katie Gardner had never felt so confused in her entire life.  
After instructing a maid to show them the way to their chambers, the princes were invited to meet with the princess in her sitting room. But only one of them had shown up, the one Katie believed to be a liar. She'd tried to tell Isaac and Miranda earlier, but they'd both waved her off.

She caught Isaac's eyes from the other side of the room and tried with all her might to communicate telepathically.

_Look here, mate, I could swear I just met this man not even an hour ago. Something's going on here!_

"Prince Connor, please take a seat," Miranda gestured towards the fluffy lavender seat next to hers. Connor smiled awkwardly and took the seat. He then nodded at his guard, who immediately went to stand by the wall, mirroring Isaac and Katie.

"Thank you, Your Highness," he said.

_I thought there were two princes? What happened to the other one?_

"Oh no, please call me Miranda," she said, shaking her head briskly.

"Well then, Miranda, you can simply call me Connor."  
 _Connor? What is this about Connor? His name is Travis and he wasn't a prince half an hour ago!_

"I wonder what happened to your brother, Connor. Was he not coming as well?" Miranda asked.

_Could he be an impostor? Were the princes attacked mid-journey? Have bandits reached this country?!_

"My brother...? Have you not..." Suddenly, blood rushed to the prince's face, reaching up to the roots of his very orange hair, his eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. He shot his guard a panicked look. "Oh no, that bloody idio- oh, pardon me, Your Highness-I mean Miranda! My-my deepest apologies, Princess Miranda, but I'm afraid there has been a case of miscommunication from our side."

"I'm sorry?" Miranda cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Please excuse us for a moment, Princess," he stammered as he stumbled off his chair. "Gaspard."

"Yes, Your Highness." The guard said instantly. There was a change in his expression. Katie couldn't say for sure, but for a second she thought he looked amused.

The prince and his guard bowed before scrambling out of the room.

Miranda, Isaac, and Katie stared in stunned silence at the door swinging shut slowly behind them.

_What...?!_

"Did we... _do_  anything?" Isaac spoke up, looking completely confused.

"I don't think we did, yet why..." Miranda trailed off.

"We didn't do anything wrong," Katie stated with a small frown. "Miranda was perfectly charming and polite, and neither Isaac nor I said a word if not addressed, so if that prince can't see-"

"Katie, that is true, but the people of Hermes have a different customs, different language, and probably a different way of treating guests," Miranda reasoned. "We might have insulted him without meaning to."

"I think it'd be better to simply wait for the prince to return and hear him out before drawing our own conclusions," Isaac said, fixing his pale green glare pointedly on Katie before turning to look at Miranda as well. 

"Yes, you're right, Isaac," Miranda agreed, scrunching her nose in thought. "But what was all that about his brother? And what did he mean by miscommunication?"

"Maybe they thought only one of them was invited to the castle and left the other one behind? Or maybe I was right and that man is an impostor!" Katie threw her hands in the air enthusiastically, eyes sparkling and slightly red-faced.  
Isaac sighed in defeat.  
-  
The minutes passed, but the prince and his guard were still not back. Katie paced back and forth, to the window and towards the door, with a head filled with thoughts, scenarios, and possible theories about the prince. How much longer until she'd be allowed to make a move? However much that was, it was going to be far too much for her to bear. She had to do something. Or else her head would explode, she was sure. There was a potentially suspicious character roaming freely around the castle, for goodness sake! But as long as Miranda didn't say otherwise, Katie was to stay there in the sitting room, waiting idly like the damsels in the stories, locked away in towers guarded by dragons, waiting for their knights to rescue them.

"How much longer?" She said under her breath.

"He's only been gone for 10 minutes, Katie, have some patience" Isaac said.

"But what if I'm right and he really is an impostor?" Katie insisted. "We shouldn't let him roam around freely like that!"

"We've been through this, you can't make such accusations simply because you met someone who resembled Prince Connor," Isaac said, running a hand through his dark curls. "And you know the castle has some of the best security there is. Stop worrying so much!"

"Still, one of us should at least be keeping an eye on him!"  
Katie glared at Isaac defiantly, dark eyebrows lowered over brown eyes, but he held her gaze calmly, almost mockingly.

"Miranda," Katie said, breaking eye contact to turn to face the princess. "What do you think?"

Miranda's eyes darted between her two aides.

"Well..." she muttered, blowing out cheeks. "I do trust you, Katie. While it doesn't seem right to send spies after our new guest, you have a smart head and I don't think you'd be so adamant over this without a good reason."

"You mean?"

"Yes," she nodded briskly. "Go check on the prince. And offer to assist him in anything he might need, while you're at it."

"I will," Katie assured before she all but ran out of the room.  
-  
The corridors weren't as busy as they had been that morning, but still, after quite some time searching, she hadn't been able to find the prince or Travis. Katie ran past many rooms and halls, making sure to peek into each one. She even went as far as checking the servants' quarters, but she couldn't find the prince. Finally, slightly out of breath and aching from the cold, she sat on the icy stone floor out in the courtyard, under a wide window, to rest before heading back to the princess' sitting room.

 _He might have gone back by now,_  she thought.  _I wonder..._  
The image of a pale man with orange curls and raggedy clothes popped into her mind.

_Travis the servant or Connor the prince?_

"Who are you," she muttered, pulling on the blades of grass peeking through the stones and frowning deeply. 

"Who the bloody-"

"You'll catch a cold if you sit out there for long," said a voice over her head.

Katie scrambled to her feet, coming face to face with a man sitting on the windowsill.

_Orange!_

"Trav...I mean Your Hi...uh..." she sputtered.  _What should I call him?!_

He smirked and rose an eyebrow, looking perfectly amused by her reddening face.

"Miss Katie," he said, in quite the gentlemanly manner. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, Your Highness," she said without meeting his eye.  _Should I confront him? Maybe I should wait and see...? Wait, did he remember my name?_

"I was on my way back to meet with Princess Miranda," he said, pointing down the hallway. "But I think I got a bit lost? You see, I have a terrible sense of direction and I sent Gaspard to fetch me something a while ago. I was starting to worry I'd be stuck wandering the halls for the rest of the evening before I saw you sitting here. If you're not too busy, would you mind pointing me in the right direction to the princess' sitting room?"

"Not at all," she replied. "I will walk you there, Your Highness."

"Thank you, Miss Katie."

She watched closely for signs of hesitation, panic, or disappointment, but his pale face remained as bright and content as could be.

 _Is he acting? Does he not care wether I follow him or not? Does this mean he's already done whatever he intended to do?_  
  
  
As they walk through the many halls on the way to the princess' sitting room, the prince did his best to keep a conversation going. He wasn't discouraged by Katie's short answers nor the sharpness in her tone of voice; no, if anything he seemed determined to get her to liven up. He asked her about life in the castle, her job, the weather, her favorite food, her friends and colleagues, her favorite ways to pass time... He noticed the way her eyes light up at the mention of gardening and focused his questions around the palace gardens, the greenhouses, her favorite kind flowers, medicinal herbs, and, long after Katie had stopped searching for signs of suspicious behavior yet before either of them realized it, they were standing before the door to the princess' sitting room.

A pair of guards hurried to open them for them, bowing at the prince. Katie stood back, letting him take three steps in before following behind.

Princess Miranda sat on the same lavender seat as before, Isaac and Gaspard stood to the side, on the same spots as before, but there was a man sitting on Prince Connor's previous seat.

"Oh, Prince Connor," Miranda said with a smile. "You're back."

"Sorry for making you wait, Princess Miranda, I got lost," he chuckled sheepishly. "Luckily I happened to meet with your kind aide and she offered to show me the way back."

At this, he turned to Katie, to thank her with a smile and maybe a bow, but found her transfixed, staring forward wide-eyed and looking slightly sick.

"Are you alright?" He asked concerned. Katie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"So we meet again, lady."

From his seat by the princess, the man stood up. He wore elegant clothes, suiting for a prince, and his hair was too orange, his skin too pale...he was a perfect copy of the prince standing next to Katie.

_You can't be serious..._

"I understand your confusion, so let me reintroduce myself," he said, lifting his chin up and looking quite smug. "I am Travis Stoll, prince of the kingdom of Hermes. I arrived here earlier than my brother, but thought it better to wait for him before introducing myself to the princess."

Feeling her heart drop to her stomach, Katie took a deep breath, gritted her jaw and dropped on one knee.

"For being extremely rude, I apologize!" She exclaimed.  
 _Someone, just kill me._


	4. The asshole guard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I thought about waiting a bit more before updating, but I'm in chemistry class and I'm afraid I'll fall asleep if I don't do stuff (stuff that isn't think about the great mystery that is HOW AM I PASSING THIS CLASS?! I DONT UNDERSTAND SHIT!).
> 
> Hope you like this chapter!  
> Comments, suggestions, and request are appreciated!

"For being extremely rude, I apologize!"

Pain shot through her leg as she dropped carelessly on her left knee. Katie inhaled sharply, but she managed to keep her face impassive, not daring to let her discomfort be known. She kept her head bowed down, hand in a fist over her heart, as she waited for a reaction from the prince of Hermes. Prince Travis. The man who's arm she had nearly broken a couple of hours ago. Yep.

"M-miss Katie?! What-?!" Connor stuttered confused. Travis waved him off as he slowly, painstakingly came to stand before Katie, not even 2 steps away from her bowed figure.

"Lady," he said solemnly. "Do you have a split personality?"

"No? No, Your Highness, I don't," Katie replied with a restrained voice. She barely kept herself from turning her head up to face the prince.

"Sure about that?"

"Travis, what are you doing?" Connor said, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Nothing much, brother. I'm simply wondering why such a rude person would ever be chosen as the princess of Demeter's close aide," he spat, looking down at Katie with scorn.

"Rude? Miss Katie?!" Connor wondered incredulously. "Brother-"

"She is the guard, Connor," Travis announced. "This rude person attacked me not half-a-day ago! She nearly broke my arm!"

"What?! Katie's the guard?!" Connor exclaimed. "You never said the guard was a woman!"

"I never said it was a man, either. You just assumed it was," Travis said matter-of-factly.

"Well you called it an asshole! Of course I didn't think you'd say that of a woman!" Connor exclaimed, his entire face turned brighter than a tomato.

"Regardless of her gender, she very nearly left me one-arm-short," Travis retorted.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic-!"

"Am I being dramatic, lady?"

"No, sire," Katie replied. Travis rose an orange eyebrow at his brother.

"See?"

"No, Travis," Connor fretted. "You know fully well this one is on you. Miss Katie, please..." He stretched his hand down to help her up. Katie looked up, staring shortly at the kind prince first, offering his hand, and sparing a glance for his brother. The latter had a strange and dark expression on his face, Katie realized. It scared her for some reason. She knew taking the prince's hand would most likely save her from punishment, but at what cost? Would prince Travis remain angered? Offended? What would that mean for Demeter? Her thoughts went to Miranda, sitting on the other side of the room, and suddenly her mind was made up.

I won't put her at risk...

She clenched her fists and lowered her gaze again.

"Your Highness, forgive my insolence, but your brother is right," she said with steel in her voice. "I attacked a prince without a valid enough reason and for that I will accept whatever punishment comes my way. The only thing I beg of you is that you won't think any less of the kingdom of Demeter and its people because of the mistakes of one."

Slowly, hesitantly, Connor retracted his hand and stood up straight. He looked at his brother, whose expression was that of bewilderment, and nodded.

It's your call.

Travis stayed silent for a second, his forehead creased, seemingly deep in thought. Katie clenched her eyes shut and held her breath, mentally kicking herself for daring to hope for leniency. Suddenly, he coughed loudly, clearing his throat, and said:

"Alright, lady, consider yourself lucky."

Katie's eyes flew wide open and her head snapped up in time to see the prince spin on his heels and walk away from her.

Was I forgiven? Is he serious?

Her eyes locked with Isaac's, who was still standing by the wall, hovering near Miranda, and they shared a look of disbelief.

Why would he forgive me?

Katie stayed in that position for a couple of seconds, until a servant nearly ran her over with a pastry cart

"Excus-Miss Katie?!" The servant squeaked in fright.

Katie scrambled to her feet, straightening her clothes.

"Sorry, Janice."

"Are you-"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Katie assured her.

"Your Highness," prince Travis said, coming to a stop before Miranda. "I assume you're feeling confused-"

"Hardly," she interrupted, calmly and emotionlessly. The air in the room came to a standstill.

She's implying she knew about the incident! Oh no, Miranda, why?!

Prince Travis looked surprised for a second, before regaining his smirk and taking the seat next to hers. The princess motioned for the servant, Janice, to bring forth the pastry cart. She did, leaving it by her side and then quickly curtsying and leaving the room.

"Please," Miranda said. "Connor, take a seat."

Connor obeyed, choosing to seat next to his brother. Isaac shot Katie a look and she scurried to stand by the wall, the same spot she'd taken earlier that day, before leaving to search for her "impostor". Before this darn mess got out of hand.

"Help yourselves," Miranda said, gesturing at the wide and colorful array of cakes and sweet things that filled the cart before them. "We people of Demeter pride ourselves on our kitchen skills. Well, I say 'we', but truthfully, I cannot bake." She chuckled amusedly.

"You cannot?" Said prince Connor.

"No, I certainly cannot. I would burn the whole castle down," she said good natured.

"I find that hard to believe."

And just like that, the princess kept the conversation away from her aide for a good hour and a half, in which both her and the princes enjoyed of sweet cakes and fragrant tea and pretended the incident from before had never happened.

They'll pretend nothing happened so they can continue their business together in the friendliest of manners, Katie realized. She felt her heart growing heavier with guilt for causing Miranda trouble and nearly causing her a feasible suitor.

After what felt like years of endless small talk between the royals, the clock tower chimed.

"Oh, it's already 5," said prince Connor, sounding slightly surprised.

"Such a pity," said prince Travis, adopting a disappointed face so convincing Katie wasn't sure whether it was fake. "Time really does fly when you find yourself with good and jolly company, does it not, Your Highness?"

"Yes, indeed it does," agreed Miranda as she set her teacup down on the small table by her side, between hers and the prince's seat.

"I'm afraid we must take our leave, princess," said prince Connor. "There are things we must do before dinning with your cousin and yourself this evening."

"We thank you for everything," said prince Travis. "We had quite a merry time and you were right, Demeter's pastries are truly the best."

"Thank you for accompanying me," said Miranda. The princes stood up and bowed as Miranda stood up and curtsied. "I hope we get to do this some other time and I apologize for any hindrance you may come to meet throughout your stay here in Demeter. We will do our best to make up for it and ensure it doesn't happen again."

"Yes, thank you," said prince Travis. "I'm sure we will have a wonderful time here."

PoPoPoPoPo

"You shouldn't have done that, Miranda."

The trio were safely back in the princess' chambers, where nobody would disturb them and where they would usually rant about pompous royal visitors after visiting with them. Princess Miranda sat on a wooden chair by the crackling fireplace, reading a book on sea monsters with a content expression on her face, while Isaac looked through a stack of documents dully.

Without looking up, Miranda said:

"There wasn't any reason for me not to do it, Katie."

"Not a rea-?! I thought we were to treat the princes with all the kindness in the world! What would you have done if they had taken the fact that you sided with me as an insult?!"

"Katie, calm down," the princess said, for her aide's ears were turning brighter and brighter red. "I simply suggested I already knew about the incident, I knew what had happened and they wouldn't be able to fool me into believing something else."

"Yes, Miranda, I know you meant well, you always do. But you have to be more careful! They could have easily decided they just didn't feel like marrying you, anymore."

"Katie, worry not, it's not me who's at their mercy here. I could just as easily accuse prince Travis for secretly attempting to sneak into my chambers as he could criminate me for having my aide hurt his arm."

"You know it is different, Miranda," Katie said. "He's a prince. He's the heir to the throne of Hermes!"

"And I live under the protection of the future king of Demeter!" Miranda said, strong and firm. "Demeter, a kingdom considered many times more powerful than Hermes by many countries. Katie, don't underestimate me. I may not have a chance against my cousin or my mother here, but I'm not a complete blockhead. I know what I'm doing."

"I'm sure you do, Miranda," Isaac stepped in with that calm and calculating tone of his. "But I am going to have to side with Katie on this one. Remember we are your aides. We serve you more than we do ourselves. And if the time came you have to be prepared to sacrifice us for the sake of your kingdom."

"I know that, Isaac" Miranda said. Her tone remained the same, but she looked at him with cold eyes. "I know that fully well and better than anyone, but I won't have my people punished for nothing if I can help it, and today I could. You mustn't be angry at me for choosing to save Katie, neither one of you must. Our current alliance with Hermes isn't so weak as to be torn down by a simple misunderstanding such as this one. And I'm sure he was exaggerating! There is no way little Katie could rip off his arm just like that! Cut it off, yes I'm sure, but she wasn't even trying. Her sword was at his throat!"

"I'm not sure that's much better," Katie grumbled, but she felt something lift from her chest and suddenly the sun shone again.

Thank you, she thought, wishing but not daring to speak the words aloud.

PoPoPoPoPo

Not long before it was time for dinner, while Miranda was busy studying French with Isaac, Katie stood face to face with a big, scowling soldier in the courtyard, both of them with swords in hand and wearing practice armor.

"Might I ask why the sudden fancy for dueling?" He said, fixing his stance and tightening the hold on his blade.

"No, you may not," she replied. Without wasting a second, she attacked. Slashing and parrying, not missing a beat. She pivoted and circled around him, for no longer than a millisecond she considered stabbing him and winning this round but opted to simply kick his behind.

"Augh-! Oh, come on Katie!"

"Sorry, Gael," she snorted, readying her stance once again.

"I met Janice earlier," he grunted, blocking her strike. "She said something serious happened to you."

"Nothing serious happened to me," Katie said. She held her breath and ducked forward. The gravel crunched beneath her feet and, quicker than his eyes could follow, she attacked, disarming him swiftly.

"Damn, Katie!" Gael's natural scowl deepened, making him look positively terrifying. He rested his hands on his knees, panting. Katie fetched the fallen sword and handed it to him.

"Let's go again," she demanded. The man turned to glare at her, but she didn't flinch.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?"

"No?"

"Then I refuse," Gael said.

"Don't be a twit!"

"Fine, you blockhead," he exclaimed, snatching his sword from her waiting hand. "You don't have to tell me shit."

"Good, I won't bother."

Katie gripped her sword with both hands, ready for another round, but stopped short before taking a swing. There was someone watching them.

"Who goes there?" She called, spinning on her heels and pointing her sword at the dark shrubbery behind her. Next to her, Gael raised his sword, looking around for a sign of life.

"Uh, sorry for startling you!"

From greenery, a man stumbled out clumsily. He wore oddly loose clothes, full of strings, and a big grey scarf that covered part of his face.

"Come forth," Gael commanded the eccentric man.

In the twilight, Katie had had a hard time seeing him clearly from a distance. Now, as he got closer, though, she noted his curly orange hair.

"You've got to be kidding..." she muttered. Katie lowered her sword and motioned for Gael to do the same. He did, looking confused.

"Do you know him?" He asked her.

"Yes, I, uh..."

"I was wondering if I could try next," the man spoke loudly, interrupting. "Sparing with the lady, I mean."

"Oh," said Gael. He locked eyes with Katie and seemed to take her rising eyebrows as code for 'yes'. "Sure, no problem."

"Nonono..." Katie whispered, but it was too late, Gael was already handing him his sword and patting him on the back.

"Good luck, lad. You'll need it."

"Thank you," he said. The sword looked awkward on his hand as he came to stand face to face with Katie.

"So..." he mused.

"Excuse my rudeness, Your Highness, but what exactly are you doing?" Katie hissed.

"I'm sparring, of course," he grinned. "I hear you're quite the opponent."

"And from whom did you hear this?"

"Never mind that, lets just start."

Katie regarded him with disdain before taking a tentative strike. He blocked her readily.

"So tell me, lady," he said. "What will it take for you to say thank you?"

"Thank you?" She grunted, passing back and lunging. Travis parried her attack with the blunt side of his sword. He jumped back from her next thrust. "For what?"

"For saving your life, of course." He moved forward, skillfully swinging his sword up and down to block her attacks. Katie saw he wasn't bad, but Gael had been better.

Without a second of hesitation, Katie slipped forward, dodging his strike. Before he could realize what was happening, the tip of her sword was hovering over his chest.

"Saving my life?!" She exclaimed outraged.

"Be grateful I didn't mention you threatened to have me killed. That could count as an assassination attempt which, friendly reminder, is punishable by death. Both in your country and in mine." He stared right into her brown eyes, flickering gold in the dying sunlight.

"Goodness, there must be something wrong with me." Katie snapped, dropping her sword and looking at him with disdain. "I can't seem to feel a single drop of gratitude towards you."

His orange brows furrowed and a dark chuckle escaped his lips.

"You're infuriating," he muttered. She stood up straighter, almost defiantly and, with a small sigh, the prince dropped his sword at her feet and took a step back.

"Will I be seeing you at the feast?"

"I'm the princess' aide." 

Suddenly his entire demeanor changed.

"See you then, lady," he grinned, waving enthusiastically before turning around and jogging away.

Katie watched him go with an unusual expression on her face, until he jumped up and into the castle through one of the open window.

What an odd person.


	5. Don't trust the blond kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carrie is everybody's mother. Matilda is a cutie patootie. There is a party...somewhere...we were not invited, I am sorry guys -.-

It didn't take long before rumors spread through the castle about Katie Gardner and the mysterious stranger who'd sparred with her and lived to tell the tale. On the walk from her room to the princess', Katie was stopped thrice to ask about that curious man: by Fynn the guard, who had been told he was her new apprentice; by Conrad, a kitchen boy who figured he was a foreigner; and by Chloe, one of the princess' maids who was convinced Katie had a secret lover.

This last one, in particular, pissed Katie off the most.

"It was just one conversation, it wasn't even a conversation! We were sparring and it wasn't even real sparring, he didn't last more than five minutes! How dull have things gotten around the castle if people are wasting even the most insignificant amount of attention to speculate about a single, short-lived, and utterly boring conversation the princess' aide had had." Katie muttered bitterly all the way to the princess' chambers. Once there, she knocked on the door to her study twice before Isaac unlocked it for her.

"I ran into Gael on my way here," was the first thing he said. He leaned on the door frame with his right hand while he gripped the doorknob with the other one, blocking the entrance.

"Oh, did you?" She said nonchalantly, feeling slightly irked at what she knew was coming. She pushed Isaac to the side and made to sprint to door to the Princess' bedroom, but he caught her arm before she got too far.

"Uh huh," he nodded. "He said you were with an acquaintance of yours? A foreigner? But I thought it was odd, since you have never travel without Miranda or I, so I asked him for your acquaintance's name but he didn't know it. Then, he described him for me."

"Did he now?" Katie grumbled.

"Orange hair and pale skin? An orange-haired foreigner?" He ran an agitated hand through his hair. "Katie, tell me you didn't-!"

"I didn't ask him for a duel, if that's what you're thinking," Katie said, snatching her arm free from his grasp with a sour expression.

"The prince of Hermes! You dueled the  _prince_  of Hermes, Katie!" Isaac exclaimed.

"He asked me to spar with him, and what could I do but accept? I wasn't about to go angering him for the second time today!"

 _Her reasoning was sound,_  Isaac knew, _but this girl was going to end up in the dungeons one of this days._

"What if you had hurt him?" He asked.

"You know I wouldn't have-"

"Yes, but he didn't know that," Isaac argued. "So why-?"

"Are you inferring he has-?"

"Other intentions? Yes, it is possible. There's a chance he's still angered but, for God knows what reason, decided not to condemn you earlier today and instead make it seem like you attacked him."

"That doesn't make any sense, Isaac. If he wanted to have me imprisoned he would have done that back when I was at his mercy," Katie argued. "The

"Still, I think it might be for the best if you sat this one out," he said.

"Sit what out?" Katie demanded, her brown eyes flashing dangerously.

"You know, tonight's feast for the princes."

"What? No! No, I'm the princess' aide, I should be there with you," she said, shaking her head. "I haven't done anything wrong, why should I have to hide from that brat-?"

"Katie..."

"Oh but he is a brat! He is a dolt who likes watching other people squirm and then goes to them demanding appreciation," Katie whispered violently.

"He's still a prince, watch your words!" Isaac slapped her head.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I just– yes, you're right, I should be more careful. But I still think I shouldn't have to miss tonight's feast."

Suddenly, the door on the other side of the room swung open and out stormed Princess Miranda, with her brow furrowed and a dark blue party dress on.

"Miss the feast? Why would you? You love parties!" She exclaimed, rushing to Katie's side and placing a hand on her forehead. "Are you feeling ill?"

"No, I feel perfectly fine," she said, taking the princess' white hand in hers and patting it twice before letting go. "Positively glowing. Don't worry, Miranda."

"Then what did you mean by missing the feast?" She asked.

"I won-"

"Katie was simply telling me she felt the atmosphere might turn a bit uncomfortable if she was around Prince Travis tonight," Sawyer interrupted. "I suggested skipping the feast. Just this once."

"Oh," Miranda said. "That explains it. So, Katie, what will you do?"

"I..." Katie caught Isaac's gaze. He looked as calm as can be, but his smile was tight and, for some reason, Katie thought his green eyes looked icier than ever.

"Fine, I'll stay behind," she blurted unhappily.

"Alright," Miranda said, feeling sympathy towards her unhappy friend. "We'll bring you back dessert! And a nice big bread roll? Would that make you feel better, Katie?"

"Oh, you," Katie giggled. "You're the sweetest person alive! But don't worry, I'll pop down into the kitchen later tonight. Might get lucky and run into a kindhearted Carrie. Her hot cocoa is the best in the kingdom."

"Yes, indeed it is," Isaac nodded, looking far too content, in Katie's opinion, to be talking about Carrie's culinary skills.

"Well, you should get going," she said, ushering both of them out of the room. "You'll be late to the feast! And we most certainly can't have that."

"Uh...right, thanks Katie," Miranda managed before she got shoved outside next to Isaac and Katie closed the door behind them. She locked eyes with Isaac and said: "Well, then, shall we get going?"

Isaac nodded, but, not having gotten farther than two steps away, the door to the princess' study was opened once again as Katie peeked her head out.

"Don't forget to come get me if anything happens!" She hollered. She pointed at both princess and aide, wearing a defiant scowl on her dolled-up face. "Scratch that, come get me if you have the slightest suspicious something might happen!"

"Will do," Isaac called back, giving her a half-hearted wave before continuing on his way.

"See you Katie," Miranda said, turning to smile at Katie one last time before following Isaac down the corridor.

Katie didn't stay to watch them go. For one thing, the palace corridors were long and wide, this one in particular, and she figured it would be slightly creepy of her to watch her friends walk away from her for longer than 20 seconds. So, instead, she wasted no time in closing the door and leaving the princess' chambers through the secret staircase. The very same one where she'd met with Prince Travis that morning.

 _Has it really been less than a day since then?_  She mused.  _Long day...goodness, I'm tired. The one thing to cheer oneself up is a nice warm meal by the oven's fire._

Feeling slightly happier at the prospect of dinner, even if it wasn't the fancy one surrounded by music she'd been hoping for that afternoon, Katie pranced down the many flights of stairs with a new spring on her feet.

Before heading for the kitchen, she stopped by her room to change out of her fancy clothes. There was no fire but, despite the heart-stopping winter air that neither Katie's window nor the castle walls could keep out, Katie still got out of her pretty dress and into a comfortable pair of pants, winter boots, a tunic, and her dark green cloak. She eyed the washing bowl on the other side of the room, sparkling and looking as unappetizing at the moment as a ride through a snowstorm, and opted to keep her dirtiness on herself if it meant not freezing to death.

Feeling a thousand times more at ease than with her fancy clothes, Katie left her room, moving quickly and silently through halls and down stairs until she stopped before the entrance to the palace kitchen.

It was chaos inside. Maids and servants running left and right, carrying bowls with soup and trays full of delicious food. Katie slipped inside unnoticed, sneaking an apple from a basket and a warm bread roll from a fresh batch before heading over to sit on a stool by the stone oven, to keep herself warm as she enjoyed her simple dinner.

She sat on her stool for nearly an hour, until things calmed down in the kitchen and most servants left to either hover around the party or tuck in for the night. She would've sat there longer, enjoying the warmth and the wonderful smell of chicken, bread, and pies from the oven, but of course both her legs had to fall asleep and she'd been forced to jump to her feet and dance around whimpering in pain.

"Ah ah ah," she cried. A million ants seemed to have decided to inhabit her legs and where now dancing the jig. "Bloody–!"

"Katie?"

Katie froze as she recognized the voice behind her.

"Are you feeling alright?"

With a growing smile, Katie spun on her heels to face good old Miss Carrie.

"Oh, good evening Carrie! Yes, I'm quite alright, my legs just fell asleep," she said, nodding eagerly. "I was actually about to go searching for you, are you busy right now?"

"No, not really." The middle-aged woman looked Katie up and down, her face as stern and as unreadable as ever. Katie learned not to expect a smile in return from her a long time ago. "More importantly, Katie Gardner, what are you doing down here? Why are you not at the feast with the princess?"

"Oh, about that," Katie said. "Isaac and Mi–the princess thought it best if I stayed far away from the people of Hermes for the time being. You heard about the incident from earlier today, I'm sure..."

"Yes, I did," Carrie said. "You really have an uncanny ability to make the most ridiculous mistakes. Threatening a visiting prince from a larger kingdom than ours ACCIDENTALLY! Honestly, Katie, you amaze me."

"Yes yes, I know and I'm sorry for every inconvenience I've caused," Katie said. "I had to miss the feast because of them. Only had bread and an apple for dinner tonight."

"Oh, did you really?" Carrie's voice suddenly became monotonous, as she knew full well what was coming.

"Yes," Katie pulled on her best miserable look. "And I was wondering, if you are not too busy, if you could maybe make me some of your magical hot cocoa that can warm the saddest hearts and bring dead plants back to life."

Carrie rolled her eyes and scoffed incredulously at the young woman.

"After all the trouble you've caused...dare to ask me for...and you're serious, too!" She rose her hand and slapped Katie across the head. "Fine! You ungrateful brat..."

"Oh, Carrie! You're the best! Thank you," Katie exclaimed joyously.

"Yes, yes, you better be thankful," Carrie grumbled as she started scavenging for ingredients. Katie pulled up her stool and a chair for the older woman, so she wouldn't have to remain standing unnecessarily and so Katie herself wouldn't feel bad about sitting down while her senior stood making her a drink.

"Thank you," Carrie said, taking the taller stool as Katie sat down on the chair. Looking up at Carrie, Katie felt laughter bubbling in her chest. It has been a long time, many years, since she last felt shorter than Carrie. A memory of when she was a little girl, back when she just started living her life at the castle, popped into her head. Carrie had been assigned as her supervisor from the moment she'd become an apprentice gardener. More often than not, she'd ended up playing babysitter for Katie, caring for her as an older sister would, encouraging her to never drop sword fighting, teaching her to be a proper lady. Carrie pretty much raised Katie for 9 years.

"If you plan to remain sitting there," Carrie said suddenly, without taking her eyes off her task. "You might as well tell me your version of today's events. Your stories are always amusing."

"Oh well, aren't you lovely," Katie grumbled. "Alright, I'll tell you my so-called version of the events. Earlier today, just before lunch, I was on my way to get the princess and Isaac. They were in the princess' study and I was coming back from the kitchen, so I decided to take a shortcut."

"One of the hidden passageways," Carrie nodded.

"Yes," Katie continued. "So there I was, innocently walking along the empty passage when, out of a sudden, I ran headfirst into someone! Right under the stairs leading to the princess' chambers! Of course, my immediate response was to attack him. How was I to know he was the prince of Hermes?! He was wearing the strangest clothes, plus his face was covered by a scarf and he had a sword on him.  _And_  he didn't reveal his identity until hours later, when we were both before his brother and the princess! Honestly, could he have had any worse timing?"

"Be glad he isn't pressing charges, Katie," Carrie chided. "If you happened to anger or harm the future king terribly, who knows how the Hermes court would react? They could go as far as to declare war on our country."

"But they didn't," Katie said under her breath, giving Carrie a start and as a result, squirming under her infuriated stare.

"Do not dare to take things so lightly, Katie Gardner, for one day you might find you are not willing to face the consequences your actions bring." She warned.

"Right, sorry," Katie apologized.

"Here you go, child," Carrie said as she placed a pot filled with dark, smooth, chocolaty liquid on Katie's hands. "Leave that over the fire for about 4 minutes and it should be hot enough for you. I would warn you about not drinking it while just out of the oven, but I won't even bother. You would not listen, either way. You have never minded a burnt tongue in your life."

"Thank you, Carrie," Katie chuckled. "And you know I always try to listen to you. I just like things better when they're very hot."

"Yes well, I reckon that is the reason you are so brown this days. You have somehow managed to get sunburnt in the middle of winter by having too many hot things and standing too close to the fire," Carrie grumbled. She stood up from her stool and Katie followed. "Go on, put it over fire. I must go check on the feast upstairs. I will see you tomorrow morning, Katie. And for goodness sake, do me a favor and be ready on time for breakfast!"

"I will," Katie smiled. "Have a good night, Carrie!"

Carrie bowed her head politely before turning and walking away. Katie, feeling cheered up after a chat with the boss, skipped to the stove and hung her pot over the crackling fire.

The kitchen was mostly empty around that time, only a pair of kitchen boys and a maid lingered around. The maid was scrubbing a big pot on the floor. Katie tried to catch her gaze, hopping to find a new conversation partner while she waited for her drink to be done, but the girl turned red on the face and pointedly ignored her, keeping to her duties. Katie thought she hadn't seen her before more than once or twice and wondered how long she'd been working in the castle. She looked quite young, much younger than Katie herself, fair and with plaited yellow hair. Yellow hair was uncommon around this area. Most people Katie knew were dark. Filled with sudden curiosity about the girl's background, she slowly tiptoed towards her.

"Hello," she said in the friendliest manner she could muster, once she was close enough to be heard. The girl gave a start. She glanced at Katie with her brown eyes wide, looking like a thief caught red-handed.

"Good evening, miss," she said, scrambling to her feet to give a quick curtsy. "Can I help you?"

"Oh! No, sorry, I was simply bored. Hoping to find someone to chat with while I wait for that to be done," Katie jerked her head in the direction of the stove. "Am I disturbing you? Tell me if I am, I will leave then."

"No, it's alright," she said as she knelt by her pot again. Katie crouched next to her and watched her work.

"I have not seen you around here often. Are you new? How long have you been working in the castle? How old are you? What do they call you?" Katie bombarded her with questions.

"Uh..." the girl stammered, her face turning redder and redder by the second. "I... My name is Matilda."

"Nice to meet you Matilda, I'm Katie. Do you work down here in the kitchens? Is that why I don't remember seeing you around the castle?" Katie asked.

"No..." she said. Her white hands twisted and untwisted the sponge frantically. "It's...um... I am not... I don't work here. I... I am from Hermes."

"Oh that's wonderful. That's really..." Katie's smile fell from her face as realization hit her like a bucket of cold water.  _How long has she been kneeling here? I didn't see her come in. Did she hear my entire conversation with Carrie?!_

"Miss? Miss Ka...Katie?"

"Huh?"

_That's it. It's all over. My life is over. I just ruined Miranda's chances at courting the princess. I'll be banished._

"Miss Katie, your drink is boiling!" Matilda cried.

"My drink...? Oh!" Katie sprung to her feet and ran to the stove where her drink was, in fact, boiling and spilling into the flames. She grabbed a pair of oven mitts and took the pot away from the fire. "Ah ah!" She breathed, feeling her hands warm up dangerously. She scurried to the counter where Carrie had prepared the hot cocoa and quickly poured the contents of the pot into two big mugs.

"Oh, that smells good," she murmured dreamily. She placed the hot pot down on the stone floor to wait until it cooled down before washing it, grabbed both mugs and hurried back to where Matilda sat.

"Here," Katie said, placing a mug on the ground next to her. She sat down and took a sip from her own. "Have some. It will warm you up just fine. Plus you won't get to taste anything like it anywhere else but here; it is Carrie's secret recipe. The best in the entire kingdom."

"Thank you," the girl said, bowing her head and taking the mug into her hands. "Ah! It's hot."

"Careful," Katie warned. She watched Matilda cautiously bring the mug up to her lips and take a tiny sip.

"It is good," she said, slightly surprised. She took another sip. "Really good."

"It is," Katie agreed.

"By the way, Matilda," Katie hesitated a second before continuing. "You heard my conversation with Carrie a couple of minutes ago, didn't you? I should apologize about that..."

"Don't worry, miss," Matilda said, her voice just as timid as before but her eyes sparkling in amusement as she bit back a smile. "I perfectly understand your annoyance."

"I'm sorry?"

"It's not surprising," she continued. "You are not the first one to say things like that, the people of Hermes don't take it to heart. Truth be told, we fuss more than you foreigners do. With such princes it is to be expected."

Katie chortled, nearly dropping her mug in the process.

"Oh my...!" She stopped laughing abruptly, her expression turning from glee to terror in less than a second. There was someone standing right behind them.

"You hurt my feelings, Matilda. What did we ever do to you?"

Both girls whirled around and Katie felt her heart stop beating. It was him. The one and only prince of Hermes.

Katie cursed.

"Travis!" Matilda exclaimed.

"Travis?!" Katie muttered, looking at the girl in bewilderment. Matilda grinned brighter than the sun and the prince reached down to pet her head good-naturedly.

"Fancy meeting you here, Matilda," he said. Then he turned his dark eyes to meet Katie's. "And fancy meeting you too, lady. Might I ask why you stood me up tonight?"

"Stood...feast...what...you...uh..." Katie sputtered foolishly. "I...what are you doing here?! Your highness."

"I should be asking that question," he said, crouching down to sit with them.

"Oh, no no no! Please," Katie hurried to stand up and gestured for Matilda to do the same. Never would she have a noble sit on the kitchen floor for her sake. "I will go get a stool or someth—"

"There is no need," the prince said, snatching her wrist and pulling her down to the floor precipitously. "Sit with us, lady."

"Wah!"

Katie stumbled backwards and fell hard on her bum.

"Ow..." She could practically feel her ears turning bright red and her pulsing backside told her she wouldn't be horse ridding for the rest of the week.

"Sorry," he said, seemingly quite amused. Katie noticed his pale hand still around her wrist and she forcefully snatched her arm away.

"It's alright, Your Highness," she assured him, not quite meeting his eyes.

"What are you doing down here?" Matilda asked.

"You know how I feel about parties, Matilda," he wrinkled his nose in mock disgust. "Boring, pompous, numbskulls forced to pretend they like each other. And my brother has kept the only mildly interesting person to himself this entire evening, that scoundrel! Don't take offense, lady, that's your princess I'm talking about."

Katie sat, back as straight as a board, contemplating perplexed the scene before her. This little servant girl who'd been so timid around her was talking to the prince of her country as casually as if she'd been talking to a boy her age. Had she gone mad?

"Plus," the prince shifted his gaze to Katie for a second. "There was someone I'd been hoping to see, but she didn't show up."

"Miss Katie?" Matilda wondered. "But I thought...didn't you two have an unpleasant encounter of sorts today? Why were you hoping to see her tonight?"

Travis looked surprised for a moment.

"Word does run faster than the wind around the castle," he said.

"Oh, well, not really. I didn't hear this from the servants. I accidentally overheard Miss Katie talking about it with Miss Ca–"

"Okay, Matilda, thank you," Katie exclaimed, cutting off the girl mid-sentence. Adopting the calmest expression possible, she turned to look at the prince. "Your Highness, you shouldn't be down here. You'll be missed at the feast."

"Oh I very much doubt that, lady," he said, waving his hand as if to brush her words away. "I wasn't being the most pleasant company and no one seemed terribly eager to engage in a conversation with me."

"Either way," Katie pressed on. "You're a guest of honor. You should at least stay long enough for your host to believe you had a good time."

"I'm a prince, lady, you cannot tell me what to do," he said stubbornly. "Be grateful I even showed up at all. Had I known you were going to leave me to suffer by myself I wouldn't have bothered."

"Leave you?!" Katie exclaimed. She scoffed incredulously, loosing her composure for good. "The attendance of a guard from a kingdom not even yours should not determine your own!"

"Well, if it had been just any other guard–!"

"Do not pretend to make me feel guilty for your own actions! I had no obligation to show up at the feast–!"

"But you promised!"

"I never did such a thing!"

"Sure you did, you told me you were going," Travis' brow furrowed, but he lowered his voice.

"That was not a promise," Katie said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly to get herself back under control. "I certainly planned on attending the feast, but something came up and I had no other choice but to miss it."

"Something came up? What could possibly–?"

"Your Highness," she cut him off sharply. "I apologize once again for everything and anything I have done to you throughout your time here. There is no more need for us to keep meeting this way. I have reflected thoroughly on my actions and understand how they might have made you feel unwelcome and distressed–"

"What does that have to do–?"

"And I'm speaking for all the people of Demeter when I say that I will do everything in my power to ensure nothing of the sort happens again," Katie concluded. "So please, I am begging you, let's pretend none of this ever happened."

"Pretend nothing happened?!" Travis exclaimed, dark eyes wide and orange eyebrows shooting up to the sky. "How do you expect–?!"

"To avoid further conflicts and uncomfortable situations," Katie insisted.

 _She seems so desperate_ , Travis thought, contemplating the girl before him.

"Hmmm," he said, pouting and adopting a look of mock concentration. "Conflicts, you say...and if I were to promise not to cause any sort of conflict? At least, nothing related to our little incident."

"But–," Katie tried to object.

"Lady," he said sternly. "You seem to be under the impression that I am still hung up over past events. I assure you, you are perfectly wrong. I feel no sense of animosity towards you."

"Of course you–."

"It's true," Matilda, who'd remained silent for the last bit of conversation, pipped up. "Travis isn't angered easily. Not over little matters such as this one."

Katie stared at the young girl.

_They completely missed my point, didn't they? What will it take for him to leave me alone?!_

"So don't fret, lady," the prince grinned. "We can remain the best of friends for the rest of eternity!"


	6. Katie the Gardener

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Windows are so much more useful than doors *nods wisely*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I've written so far, but I've got the outline for the next 4/5 chapters ready :D Now all that's left is for me to write!

That night, Katie didn’t sleep a wink. Thoughts of the young prince kept circling her head, gripping her hand and pulling her violently whenever she got close to slipping into dreams. By the time the sky turned grey, she’d already given up on sleep and opted for getting changed and heading out to visit the greenhouses.

 

The cold morning air bit at her cheeks as she jogged down the stone path marking the way to greenhouse number 5. The days in the kingdom of Demeter were getting colder and colder to the point where having less than 3 pairs of socks on was considered lunacy or masochism. It baffled Katie how the first snow had yet to happen with such weather.

 

Breathing hard, she slowed her pace as she came before the glass building. Despite the early hour, she could hear a pair of gardeners chattering away as they worked nearby. 

 

_The castle never is truly asleep._

 

Katie swung open the door to the greenhouse as quietly as she could, so as not to call attention from the gardeners to herself. Not that she was doing anything wrong, but if Carrie were to find out where she’d been before breakfast…

 

Katie shook her head violently, pushing her thoughts away.

 

“Let’s just focus on the plants. Think about flowers,” she muttered.

 

The palace greenhouses were big, to say the least. Rows upon rows of different types of plants, colorful flowers, medicinal herbs, leaves of every size and shape imaginable…

 

Reaching into a cupboard by the door, Katie pulled out a pair of thick brown gloves and went to work.

 

*

 

Her thoughts were drifting much too far away when suddenly…

 

*CLANK*

 

Katie jumped a meter into the air with a startled cry that ripped through the quiet atmosphere. Heart beating out of her chest, she turned around fuming, ready to strike down a moron, only to find a young, blond girl standing frozen by the doorway. Her eyes went wide and she bowed hurriedly, twisting her apron in her hands anxiously. A copper pot lay by her feet.

 

“Matilda,” Katie recognized.

 

“My apologies, Miss Katie. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she said, straightening up before bending back down to pick up her pot.

 

“No no, don’t worry about it,” Katie said, letting her hand fall from the hilt of her sword, where it had gone to without a notice. “What are you doing here this early in the morning?”

 

“I was here to pick up some herbs for one of the pharmacists,” she explained. “I don’t usually run into anyone at this hour, though. I did not expect to find you here, Miss.”

 

“Oh, that’s because I’m probably not supposed to be here,” Katie laughed nervously. “I could not help it. This is my favorite place in the world! I love everything that has to do with gardening.”

 

“Really? That’s unusual for a knight, isn’t it?” Matilda wondered, stepping closer to Katie and putting her pot down by a bunch of citrus plants.

 

“Well I am not a knight. Not really,” Katie grinned proudly. “When I first came into the castle, I was an apprentice gardener.”

 

“A gardener?!” Matilda exclaimed. “How did you end up the princess’ aide?! How did you learn to fight?!”

 

Katie laughed heartily. She pulled off her gloves and sat down next to Matilda’s pot, legs spread out in a most unladylike manner.

 

“That, little Matilda, is quite a long story,” she said.

 

“I’m not in a hurry,” Matilda assured, nodding vigorously. “I promised to have this herbs delivered by eight o’ clock; it is only seven. Oh, come on, Miss Katie, do tell! I like stories!”

 

Katie contemplated the girl for a second before nodding curtly.

 

“It all started with my father,” she began. “He passed away ten years ago. He was a knight. Died in battle. Back then, I was nine years old. I wasn’t nearly old enough to be married and my mother had died in childbirth. As a kid, my father had always encouraged me to learn self defense. He taught he how to use a wooden sword, how to shoot an arrow, and how to win in hand-to-hand combat. I was the most badass kid in the entire kingdom.”

 

“He sounds like an unusual person,” Matilda mused.

 

“He definitely was. He was the coolest,” Katie said with a chuckle. “And I learned so much from him! He used to send me off to play with his friends’ children, who all happened to be boys, and he always made me promise to win every single game to ‘bring honor to our family name’. He was obviously kidding, but I still took it to heart and made sure to try my hardest. That’s how I learned to fight: from my father’s training and from playing with the boys.”

 

“Wow,” Matilda whispered, wide-eyed. “I wish I could use a sword.”

 

Katie contemplated the girl for a second before opening her mouth and hearing herself say:

 

“I could teach you if you want.”

 

_What?! No no no! How is that a good idea?! Oh, damn it, Katie, you dolt! Spending time with Matilda won’t help you cut ties with Travis Stoll! Do you want to keep running into that insufferable prince?!_

 

Katie tried to say something, to take her words back, but the damage was already done.

 

“Really?! That would be wonderful!” Matilda exclaimed, squealing and clapping exuberantly. Her smile was so bright, Katie thought she’d go blind, and just like that, her resolve melted.

 

_Well, it’s not like Matilda and Travis are always seen together. You just saw them being friendly once and the castle is a very big place. Anyway, you wouldn’t spend the entire day with Matilda! Just a couple of hours! What are the chances of running into the prince?_

 

“Yeah,” said Katie, smiling back at the bright girl. “It will be fun. Should we meet later today? Sometime after lunch?”

 

“That’s perfect,” said Matilda.

 

Just then, the deafening sound of the clocktower’s bell rang out. Once, twice…eight times.

 

“Eight…” the color drained off Matilda’s face. “Oh no! It’s eight o’ clock!”

 

She scrambled to her feet, quickly dusting her apron off and snatching up her pot.

 

“I’m sorry, Miss Katie, but I have to go now!”

 

“Yes, don’t let me keep you,” Katie said, tucking her legs into a more dignified sitting position and raising a hand to wave. “Bye Matilda! I’ll see you by the armory after lunch!”

 

“Yes, goodbye,” the girl said breathlessly, giving a quick curtsy before turning and running away.

 

Katie chuckled quietly as she watched her go.

 

“I like this girl,” she muttered. “And I should probably get going too. Isaac must be out of his mind waiting for me by now.”

 

 

PoPoPoPoPo

 

 

“Where are you going, Katie?”

 

It was a couple of minutes past two. Having finished their meal, Miranda and her aides had agreed to spend the next couple of hours working on the growing pile of paperwork waiting on the princess’ desk. Of course, Katie had absolutely no intention of even holding a pen that afternoon.

 

“I…uh…” Katie turned around to face her friend, who’d caught her just a step away from sneaking out through the window.

 

“Aren’t you coming to the library with us?” Isaac asked, glancing from Katie to her hand on the window latch. His pale eyes narrowed. “Are you going somewhere?”

 

“Going somewhere?!” Katie exclaimed, innocently retracting her hand from the window. “Wouldn’t I use the door for that?”

 

“It wouldn’t be the first time you didn’t,” Isaac said stoically.

 

Katie scoffed at that.

 

“Really? It happened ONE time–!”

 

“Where are you going, Katie?” Isaac asked, his tone sharp enough to make Katie squirm.

 

“I…” Katie sighed. “Look, Isaac, we both know how this afternoon is going to play out.”

 

“I don’t see what you mean–,” Isaac began.

 

“It is always the same old story! The three of us go to the library; you and Miranda start discussing this thing and another; politics, politics, and more politics; and, not even an hour into our session, I’ll fall asleep somewhere behind a bookcase,” Katie huffed. “You know I am just terrible at this sort of thing, and it isn’t as if you ever even seek my help! You and Miranda are perfectly fine by yourselves without me getting in the way.”

 

Isaac silently stared at the pouting face of the girl. She stared back with narrowed brown eyes.

 

“Alright,” Isaac finally said. “Go get some fresh air or something. Meet us at the library in exactly one hour.”

 

“Oh, Isaac, you are the greatest!” Katie grinned, spinning on her heels and throwing open the window. “I will be back soon! Don’t let Miranda worry!”

 

“DON’T–! KATIE, THERE IS A DOOR RIGHT THERE! USE IT!” But his words were of no use. Katie was already climbing on top of the windowsill and readying herself to jump.

 

“I will be seeing you soon, Isaac!” She called out to her red-faced friend before leaping off and latching herself onto the firm branch of the big, sturdy tree near the window. Slowly but surely, she crawled and climbed from branch to branch until she was sure she was close enough to the ground as to not break her legs by jumping. Then she let go of the branch.

 

“Oof,” she gasped, landing expertly, with no injuries.

 

She stood up straight, stretched for a moment, and was about to start her dash to the courtyard when a voice behind her said:

 

“Fancy meeting you here, lady.”

 

_I should have listened to Isaac and used the door._

“Oh, Your Highness,” Katie plastered a polite smile on her face before turning around and bowing. The prince sat with his back rested upon the tree, a book in hand and his sword on the floor by his side. He seemed to be alone, which struck Katie as odd. “I apologize for causing you any disturbance.”

 

“Don’t be. I often jump from my window and climb down trees to get places, too,” he said, with a cheery smile.

 

“Do you?” Katie asked incredulously.

 

“No, I was trying to make you feel better,” he snorted before turning back to his book.

 

“There is no need for that,” Katie said curtly. Then, feeling slightly curious, she asked: “Are you here by yourself?”

 

“No, you are here with me,” he said without letting his eyes wander off the page.

 

“You know what I meant.”

 

Travis looked up just in time to see her roll her golden brown eyes up to the sky. He felt a smile tugging at his lips but he couldn’t be bothered to stop it.

 

Noticing his odd grin, Katie raised her eyebrows.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked haltingly.

 

“Am I not allowed to look at you?”

 

“With such a suspicious grin? No,” she frowned. “Did you do something? What sort of mischief is it this time?”

 

“Ow,” Travis pressed a hand to his chest, where his heart should be. “You wound me, lady. I was just marveling at how pretty your eyes look under the midday sun.”

 

Katie felt her jaw go slack and her face took on an outraged look.

 

“Wha– Now I’m sure you did something you shouldn’t have!” She exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at him. Travis threw his head back in a crazed cackled.

 

“Oh, dear Lord! Yes, whatever you say, lady. Whatever you say!”

 

Katie wrinkled her nose angrily and stood up straighter.

 

“I must be going now. Good day, Your Highness,” she said, spinning on her heels and marching away.

 

“A good day to you, lady!” He called after her and she could’ve sworn she heard the infuriating smile growing on his face.

 

“That twit,” Katie muttered as she quickened her pace to a jog in the direction of the palace courtyard.


	7. I am not a rabbit, Your Highness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heyeyeyey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I made a mistake. On the first chapter I mentioned that Peter, Miranda’s cousin, was going to inherit the throne. Well, he already did. He inherited it a couple of years back, when Miranda’s father passed away. Miranda’s mother is still alive, but she didn’t think she was fit for ruling, which is why Peter was named king (Miranda was too young to be married and they couldn’t have a young woman become queen without a king because this is a medieval au and society is not cool).
> 
> Once again, I suck at updating regularly. But look! A long chapter! YAY!

 

 Feeling sore all over, Matilda dragged her feet to the armory door, by which stood Katie, looking much happier than Matilda but still in a desperate need of a shower.

“You did great, Matilda!” She said, patting the younger girl’s head. Matilda tried for a smile but it felt more like a grimace.

“In all honesty, it didn’t feel that great,” she admitted.

“This was your first time handling a blade, wasn’t it? Not even General Cadrift could grin and wield it properly after his first practice, and just look at where he is now,” Katie said, successfully coaxing a grin from Matilda.

Katie unlocked the door and both girls stepped into the stifling armory. There were no windows but one at the very back; still, it wasn’t dark enough for them to bother lighting a candle.

“Pass me your gear, Matilda. Sword first,” Katie instructed, pulling off her own protective equipment but, of course, keeping her sword.

“Yes, here.” Matilda handed over her sword and proceeded to take off her chest guard.

“Thank you.”

“Katie?” She asked, dropping the rest of her gear on Katie’s outstretched arms.

“Yes?”

“Do you carry your sword around everywhere?”

“I never let it out of my sight,” Katie said. “It is part of the job.”

“Do you even sleep with it?” She asked, feeling more and more curious about the older girl’s job.

“It is not as uncomfortable as it sounds,” she admitted. With a nod towards the door, she lead the way back outside. Having cool down from practice already, the air felt a lot colder than it had before.

“Well, what if you get hurt?”

“That has yet to happen, but some time ago Isaac used to believe I would accidentally impale myself in my sleep,” Katie turned to look at the blonde girl. “Why do you ask? Planning an attack on our country?”

“I think your job is interesting,” Matilda said, raising her shoulders up with an innocent smile.

“In all honesty it is not as adventurous as you might think, but it is still quite fun. I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Katie said. Just then, she felt an odd sensation in her gut. Her neck prickled uncomfortably.

_There’s someone…_

Hand on her sword, she spun around sharply, searching for any sort of movement. There was none.

_That’s odd. I could have sworn I felt…_

“Is something wrong?” Matilda frowned, both worried and confused.

“No, I was just being paranoid,” Katie said, trying for reassuring confidence. “Well, Matilda, we really should be going now. It is getting late and I am expected at the library.”

“Yes, right,” Matilda said, going back to her sunny self. “I really should go back to the kitchen. Thank you, Katie! Have a good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon to you, too!” Katie said with a bow. She turned around as if to leave, walking slowly and taking her time to reach up to re-tie her droopy ponytail, until she heard Matilda’s footsteps tapping away on the stone floor. Then she turned around to watch her leave.

_I could have sworn I felt someone watching us before._

PoPoPoPoPo

“Isaac, don’t be juvenile!”

“You are the one who is acting like a child! If you didn’t want to help us out you shouldn’t have bothered to even show up!” Isaac snapped. “And you smell!”

“I was practicing, I got sweaty, of _course_ I smell! Don’t be so uptight, you exemplary dunce!” Katie snapped back, crossing her arms and sticking her nose up at him angrily.

“Katie, hush! We’re at the library!” Miranda placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder, looking slightly desperate

“Oh, you keep getting more and more creative with your insults. Makes me wish you used those brains of yours for things that actually matter like –oh, I don’t know– helping us think up a proposal to strengthen our economical relationship with the kingdom of Hephaestus!”

“You shot down all of my ideas!”

“That’s true,” Miranda agreed. “But, really, could you two lower your voices–?”

“That only happens when your ideas are no good. It isn’t my fault if that’s the case 85% of the time,” Isaac shrugged, looking down at Katie with cold green eyes.

“Isaac, you are so full of–“

“Katie!”

“Full of what exactly?” He taunted. “Go on, say it, Katie.”

Katie considered it for a moment. She also considered punching the smug look off his face.

“Not everyone says the first thing that pops into our heads regardless of how asinine it might be, Isaac,” Katie stated condescending.

“You– just go wash up or find something productive to do but I will not have you around acting like a restless toddler!”

“Maybe YOU should–!”

“WILL BOTH OF YOU BE QUIET?!” Miranda shouted in frustration.

Katie and Isaac effectively shut their mouths in unison. They both regarded Miranda with an expression proper of a child who’d just been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. With a sigh and a furrowed brow, Miranda said:

“Maybe we’ve been coped up in here for far too long. Some fresh air would do us good, would it not, Isaac? And Katie, I think you should go wash up before it is time for dinner.”

For a second, no one spoke. Katie and Isaac regarded each other

“Sure, Miranda. I’ll go do that,” Katie said, having the decency to look embarrassed.

“Good idea,” agreed Isaac, stepping away from Katie grudgingly. “Shall we take a stroll by the gardens?”

“Yes, let’s,” Miranda said with a relieved smile. Isaac offered his arm to her and she happily placed her hand upon it before he began stiffly leading the way to the door. Not without shooting Katie one last withering glare (which she returned most enthusiastically).

Katie watched her friends leave, feeling her anger leave with them.

“Damn, this boy can be infuriating,” she chuckled to herself.

Katie slowly walked out of the library. The library was in one of the taller towers, where halls lined by wide arches, giving you a wonderful view of the kingdom of Demeter, lead to the main area of the castle, the place where most of her day’s activities usually took place.

There was still some time before dinner and Katie just did not feel like hurrying. Not when she had the best view in the land of the beautiful sunset that had graced them that afternoon.

Katie sighed in content, sending a puff of white vapor into the wind. _What a wonderful sight. Makes me wish I could paint…_

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“WAH!”

_Hand. Punch. Sword._

“OW!”

Katie blinked once. Twice. Three times. And her brown eyes went wide in a horrified expression.

“Please tell me my eyes deceive me?” She whimpered.

“You really must stop doing that,” Travis, the prince of Hermes, groaned as he rubbed his recently-beat arm up and down. “This is bound to turn into a bruise by tonight!”

Katie promptly dropped the sword in her hand as if it had grown fungus.

“What were you thinking sneaking up on me like that?!” She exclaimed.

“I wasn’t sneaking! I was walking by and decided to stop and watch the sunset,” Travis hollered back, gesturing wildly. “Why is it that I can’t get any more than 5 feet near you or else I end up more battered and bruised than if I had been wrestling?!”

“I apologize profusely,” Katie spoke through gritted teeth. She bowed halfheartedly. “I will do my best not to run into you in the future to avoid further harm from coming your way, Your Highness.”

After a moment of silence, Travis raised an orange eyebrow and asked: “Are you not going to ask me to stay away from you?”

“No, that would sound too much as a threat,” Katie stated solemnly.

“I was hoping you would,” Travis grinned. “So I could yell: ‘HOW DARE YOU THREATEN ME IN SUCH A WAY, YOU UNGRATEFUL WENCH’ or something like that.”

“Do you find it fun to make others squirm?” She asked, the disgust on her face evident.

“Only when said others are as fun to tease as you are,” he admitted with a shrug.

“Sir, with all due respect, please leave me alone. Sunsets are much better admired by yourself,” Katie said darkly.

“Oh, I cannot do that, lady. Rabbits die if they’re lonely,” Travis said.

“Are you a rabbit?” Katie snorted.

“No, you are,” he said matter-of-factly.

“That is oddly insulting.”

“Really? I thought you’d be flattered! Rabbits are cute!” Travis grinned crookedly.

“Please don’t call me cute, Your Highness,” Katie said, stone-faced.

“No, but, really, I noticed you’ve been spending an awful lot of time all alone, lady.” Travis said, cocking his head to the side. “Why, just today I ran into you at least three times walking without your princess or that tall, brown fellow–.”

“Isaac,” Katie corrected.

“Yes, Isaac. I don’t quite like him, he seems sort of uptight.”

Katie watched as Travis wrinkled his nose, thinking that his face looked so much paler in the cold winter evening air.

“I just thought you looked so terribly lonely–,” he continued.

“Lonely?” Katie interjected. “Why would I feel lonely? It has always been that way between us three: Isaac and Miranda are the responsible adults and I am their adoptive daughter.”

Travis snorted at that. In a very un-princely fashion. In his elegant, dark blue jacket and with his hair almost as flaming orange as the setting sun, Katie thought he made quite an interesting picture.

“Well, if I say I am the lonely one, will you agree to keep me company?” He asked, smirking cockily at her.

“No.”

“Then what if I told you I was desperate? Would you agree to become my ally, then?” His expression darkened out of the nowhere.

“Desperate?” Katie asked, puzzled. “Desperate for what, exactly?”

Travis gazed down at her with dark eyes pensive for a moment before saying:

“I need someone to aid me in becoming closer with the princess.”

Katie frowned.

“You want my help to get closer to the princess? Why?”

“You are her personal attendant, are you not? The princess’ aide. How many years have you been working alongside her? Six? Seven?”

“Five, actually.”

“Wait, how old are you, again?” Travis asked.

“I am nineteen years old and I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Katie said grumpily. “Anyway, Isaac has been Miranda’s aide for much longer than I have been. Why not go to him if you are as desperate as you say?”

“It does not matter, I was just curious,” he said. “And I told you, I don’t really like Isaac. We will not get along fine. I would much rather have you help me.”

“You do not particularly like me either,” Katie said. “Might I remind you we just promised to try not to run into each other anymore?”

“Oh please, lady, won’t you help me? I promise to be the most pleasant person to you if you do!” Travis exclaimed. “Please, I _need_ to win her favor over my brother. I need to be the one who wins her hand no matter what.”

Katie stared at him in stunned silence. She hadn’t, per se, forgotten what the purpose of the princes’ visit was, but with so many things in her mind she had absentmindedly come to the conclusion that they were not serious about marrying Miranda. Least of all, Travis.

“I didn’t realize…” she murmured gravely. “Is there a reason why you must be the one to marry her? Would it not be just as good for your country to have either one of you princes marry Miranda? And please don’t say it’s simply because she is pretty because I will have to physically restrain myself from causing serious damage to your face.”

“It is far more complicated than that, lady,” Travis nodded solemnly. “I cannot divulge all of my secrets and circumstances to you, but I can assure you I plan on courting Princess Miranda as honestly and whole-heartedly as you could ever hope for.”

Katie found her eyes meeting with his intense stare and had to force herself not to look away.

_He is determined, I’ll give him that. But as for his reasons…_

“Al right,” Katie said, sticking her hand out. “I’ll help you get closer to the princess if you promise to be the nicest person ever to me AND to Miranda. Deal?”

“Deal!” Travis grinned, taking her hand and shaking it vigorously.

_Guess we’ll just have to wait and see._

“Well, we really must go back inside,” Travis said, smiling cheerfully at her. “I heard that rabbits die if they’re out in the cold for far too long.”

“I am not a rabbit, Your Highness,” Katie sighed, but followed him inside, nonetheless.

PoPoPoPoPo

Having washed up and put on clean clothes, Katie made her way to the princess’ chambers. After her conversation with the prince, she had politely offered to walk him to his room. He had declined but she had insisted. Yet, despite having engaged in amiable conversation, Katie had failed at finding out his motives for wanting the princess’ hand.

_Oh well, there will be other chances._

Reaching the door to the princess’ room, Katie knocked thrice before hearing Miranda’s voice calling for her to come in. She sat on a soft chair by the lit fireplace, wearing a dark red gown with her dark hair cascading down her back, and Isaac stood next her, leaning against the wall and looking sharp in his uniform.

“I see you are both ready,” Katie said, nodding in their direction. “Let’s go, then. We must not make the king wait.”

Isaac offered his hand to Miranda and helped her up to her feet.

“Katie, you look lovely,” Miranda said, tucking one stray hair back into Katie’s braid.

“And smell so much nicer, too,” Isaac mumbled, earning himself a glare from Miranda. Clearing his throat, he said: “Yes, Miranda, you smell a whole lot nicer than her. You are like a rose garden in full bloom.”

“You know that is not what I meant!” She exclaimed, slapping Isaac’s arm lightly.

“Yes, Isaac, be nice,” Katie chuckled.

The trio made their way to the dinning room, where a very long table had been set for four people.

“I am glad we got here early,” Isaac whispered to Katie, from the spot by the wall.

“Yeah, wouldn’t want to leave a wrong impression on the princes,” Katie agreed.

“Speaking of, we ran into him just now,” Isaac said.

“Who?”

“Prince Connor. We met him while walking through the gardens. He struck up a conversation with Miranda and accompanied us all the way,” Isaac said. “Really nice person. I think I might root for him.”

Katie nearly choked on her own spit at that.

“No!” She whispered sharply. “No, we should be rooting for Travis!”

“For Travis?! Are you out of your mind?!” Isaac hissed. “Did you forget everything that happened yesterday morning?!”

“No, of course I have not forgotten!” She hissed back. “I’m just saying, he might be the better choice.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Oh, because…you know…he is a lot more… he has a strong personality,” she sputtered.

“Katie, you are not making any sense, now shush!” Isaac said, before turning to face the doors as they began to creak open.

With the sound of clicking boots on stone floors, in came a small parade of servants closely followed by the two princes of Hermes.

“Princess Miranda,” greeted Connor, as he and his brother both bowed their heads respectfully at her.

“Good evening, Prince Connor and Prince Travis,” Miranda said with a smile. “Please take a seat. My cousin should be here any minute now.”

As the princes sat down, Katie’s eyes kept glancing at Travis. She didn’t want to be caught staring, but she wanted to take mental notes about his current relationship with Miranda.

One of the servants that had accompanied the princes came to stand next to Katie, leaning on the wall. He was fair-skinned, with chestnut brown hair and heavy eyebrows. Katie recognized him as Prince Connor’s personal attendant from the day before. He glanced at Katie and Isaac and nodded in acknowledgment. Katie offered a close-lipped smile back before turning back to the task at hand: observing.

It was painfully obvious that Connor was the one who felt most comfortable making polite small talk, but Katie had to give Travis props for trying to jump into the conversation as many times as he could. Yet, his efforts seemed to get him nowhere. Miranda’s attention was captivated by Connor.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door.

Katie met eyes with Isaac.

_The king…_

The big wooden doors were slowly swung open by two armed guards. Walking in a quick purposeful manner, entered a tall, dark-skinned man, with jet-black hair and a perpetual frown on his face: King Peter. The pair of servants who accompanied him came to stand next to Isaac, by the wall.

As the king came to a stop behind his chair, both princes and Miranda stood up and bowed respectfully. Then, a servant proceeded to pull back the king’s chair and he sat down.

“Good evening, my dearest cousin,” he said, addressing Miranda with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “And good evening to our dear visitors from the Kingdom of Hermes, Prince Connor Stoll and Prince Travis Stoll.”

Both princes bowed their heads with polite smiles.

“It is an honor to have been invited to dine with you, Your Majesty,” said Prince Travis.

“Yes, I was eager for the opportunity, since we did not get the chance to speak much during yesterday’s banquet,” the king said. “Speaking of, was the feast to your liking?”

“Oh yes, of course!” Connor nodded. “It was perfectly wonderful! The people of your kingdom are so warm and kindhearted!”

“We felt right at home,” agreed Travis.

The king smiled, pleased.

“Good, I am glad. Now, let us not waste anymore time, for our meal will get cold.”

As they ate, the four royals talked amongst themselves with amicable smiles. The princes went on and on about how lovely their stay at the Demeter Castle had been so far and how they simply could not wait for the famous Christmas Ball. The king seemed to be perfectly content listening to them speak, but still managed to put in a word or two as well as ask for Miranda’s opinion on many subjects.

Katie knew that the relationship between the princess and the king was strained. It would have been Miranda on the throne, had she not been so young when her father passed away. Her mother, the queen, debated upon whether or not to wait a couple of years for Miranda to get married, but in the end she couldn’t shoulder the burden all by herself and ended up conceding the crown to her nephew, Peter, who was off-age and more than capable of ruling. Peter knew all of this and he didn’t wish for his cousin’s potential influence on their country to be completely disregarded, but there wasn’t much he could do but ask for her advise and opinion as often as possible. Miranda appreciated the fact and she cared for her cousin, too, but Katie knew a drop of resentment still resided in her heart.

When the meal was finally over and the servants had approached to take the plates from the table, the princes shared a look before standing up and bowing in unison.

“We thank you for your kindness and this delicious meal,” they said.

“We thank you for accompanying us,” the king said as he and Miranda bowed their heads to them. “May you keep enjoying your stay in our kingdom.”

“Thank you,” the two princes said. “Have a good evening.”

With that, they stood back from the table and started to walk away. Gaspard caught Katie’s eye and smiled once before hurrying to catch up with the princes as they left the dinning hall.

Once the wooden doors closed behind the ginger princes and Gaspard, King Peter turned to address Miranda.

“My dearest cousin, it has been a pleasure, as always.”

“The pleasure was all mine,” Miranda replied. “I should leave now. It is getting late.”

“Yes it is, but before you leave,” Peter said. “I was wondering if I could have a private word with your attendant, Katie Gardner.”

Katie snapped into attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Isaac tensing and his eyebrows furrowing slightly. Miranda glanced at Katie with inquiring eyes, but the latter couldn’t give her any sort of reassurance. She herself had absolutely no idea why the king might want to talk to her.

“Yes, of course you may,” Miranda agreed tentatively. Pushing her chair back, she stood up and curtsied at her cousin. Then, she began to walked towards the door and Isaac, after shooting Katie one curious glance, followed her out of the room.

Heavy silence fell upon Katie and the king. Not daring to move unless she was asked to, Katie fought to keep her face impassive as she waited for King Peter to speak.

“Katie Gardner, come forth.” His voice was kind yet as strong and as deep as a mountain would sound if it could utter a sound. Katie walked swiftly to stand before the king, by the edge of the table. Once there, she knelt down on one knee and bowed her head.

“Your Majesty,” she said.

“Rise, if you will,” he commanded. Katie did. “I will not be taking away much of your time. You should be able to return to the princess’ chambers in time to aid her in the preparations before going to bed.”

Katie nodded curtly.

“It has come to my attention that you and Prince Travis of Hermes have become quite close in the time he has spent here.”

Katie felt her stomach drop.

“Pardon my intrusion but, quite close?” She asked, struggling to keep the uneasiness from showing.

“Are you not? It seems to me as if throughout this last few days, the prince has been spending an awful lot of time around you, Miss Gardner. Is that not right?” King Peter was not an expressive man, but Katie swore she saw his mouth quirk up into a smirk.

It was true she had spent some time with Travis, but never out of her own free will! Katie felt the sudden urge to kick a certain prince and proceed to chuck all of the oranges and carrots in the kingdom into the river, never to be seen again.

She opted to remain silent.

“I think it is wonderful that the princes find themselves so at ease around the servants of this castle, my one wish is for them to see Demeter as a second home of sorts,” he said. “As you well know, the whole purpose of their visit is to meet the princess and know the kingdom. Therefore, seeing as you seem to be getting along graciously with at least one of the princes, I wanted to ask you for your cooperation. Do your best, Miss Gardner, to make sure that our princess and the princes of Hermes get along amiably.”

The king had an impressive presence. He radiated such a powerful aura, Katie barely managed to keep her knees from trembling.

Swallowing her panic, she said: “I will, Your Majesty.”

“Good. You may leave now.”

Katie bowed once more, before turning around and walking stiffly out of the room. Once the doors where completely close, she took of running as fast as her wobbly legs would carry her, through many corridors, down the stairs, and out to the palace gardens.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had plans for this chapter. Luckily, it got too long and I couldn't keep on adding scenes, so instead I uploaded what I had and left the remaining scenes for the next chapter. 
> 
> Love you all! Have a wonderful summer break!


	8. Big hands, omens & old coats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something odd is happening to Katie, the color orange is evil, and I really can't write anything that doesn't at least mention theater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I apologize for the very long wait. I truly am extremely grateful and honored to have you still reading my story <3 Thank you for sticking with me! I hope you stick until the end!!
> 
> Happy reading!

**Chapter 8:**

 

The sound of frantic breathing and stomping feet filled the otherwise quiet courtyard, late at night. Coming to a sudden stop by the wooden door that led to the armory, Katie raised her hands slowly until they reached her head. Then she proceeded to grip her hair and squeal in a very unladylike manner. 

 

“EEK you idiot! AUGH!” She shook her head violently and jumped from one foot to another in some sort of frustrated dance. Why did she feel so…what? Was it guilt? Anxiety? Disappointment? She was angry, that was for sure. Angry because of what the king had insinuated; angry because, as a woman, she couldn’t be seen around a man without ridiculous rumors starting to circle around the castle; angry at Travis, for showing up everywhere she went and acting all happy and friendly; and most of all, angry at herself, for letting her emotions get the best of her and letting it all bother her so much.

 

She let out one last groan of rage. 

 

“YOUR HEAD _MUST_ BE FILLED WITH HORSE CRAP! There is no other explanation, you HALF-WITTED DOLT!”

 

As the last words left her mouth, the courtyard went back to it’s previous silence, only slightly disturbed by Katie’s heavy breathing.

 

After a minute or so of standing there unmoving, Katie turned her body slightly so that she was facing the door and let her head drop, leaning against it.

 

“This isn’t like you, Katie,” she murmured, closing her eyes. Her thoughts went back to Travis and a she let out a snort. “If he’d heard you screaming your head off, he would never had let you live it down.”

 

Picturing the ginger boy laughing at her, she felt her heart become lighter. Now that she was slightly more clear-headed, she thought it best to head over to the princess’ chambers and, with that in mind, she began walking back through the path she’d come by, only this time her steps were lighter.

 

As she stepped into the corridor that lead to the main part of the castle, she heard the small thud of heavy feet on a rug. Placing a hand on her sword, she turned around and came to face a wide-eyed, sloppy clothed, young prince.

 

“Your Highness,” she said. “I did not expect to run into you so late.”

 

“I could say the same, lady,” he replied.

 

_Was fate messing with her?_

 

“What brings you around this part of the castle?” She asked.

 

“I wanted some fresh air. And sword practice.” He said with a shrug.

 

“Dressed like that?” Katie looked Travis up and down. He was wearing the same clothes he’d been wearing the first time they met (had he not, she wouldn’t have been able to tell whether he was his brother or himself). Baggy and with lots of strings. A big grey scarf wrapped loosely around his neck covered up to his nose. Katie frowned slightly at the memory of her sword on said covered neck.

 

Travis grinned.

 

“And what about you? Should you not be with your princess at this hour?” He asked. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh, that’s right! I had something to talk to you about, lady!”

 

“You did?” Katie said, a bit taken aback. 

 

“Yes. I was hoping I’d run into you some time tomorrow morning, but it might have been better that things turned out this way.” He chuckled.

 

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Katie asked, smiling slightly.

 

“You see, I was hoping I would be able to take the princess to watch a play that’s to be performed the day after tomorrow in the theater downtown,” he said. “I heard the servants talking about it earlier this evening. Supposedly, a well-known traveling theater crew will be passing through the kingdom. They will only be staying one night, though, so we will have to arrive extra early to snatch ourselves some good seats. We will also need to go disguised, and we will have to find a way to sneak in and out of the castle.”

 

“Woah, slow down,” Katie said with a chuckle. “A play? You’re saying you want to sneak the princess out of the castle to go watch a play?”

 

“It’s a good play. I heard the playwright is a genius,” Travis argued. “Oh, come on, lady. It will be fun!”

 

“Fun I am sure it would be, but I can’t just agree to turn a blind eye on you and the princess’ escape. Every single person in this castle expects me to be fully aware of the princess’ whereabouts and state of being at all times, someone is bound to catch on and then they’ll want my head,” Katie explained. “What am I supposed to say to Isaac if he runs into me? That I just happened to lose Miranda?”

 

“Well, what if you came, too?” Travis said, keeping his face most unassuming.

 

“What? With you two?” Katie asked, slightly taken aback.

 

“Yeah,” Travis shrugged. “I was going to ask Gaspard, my guard, to come, anyway. It’s no big deal if you tag along. And that way, if somebody asked Isaac, he can just say she’s with you.”

 

“And what will I tell him we’re doing?” Katie asked, still apprehensive but definitely not against the idea (I mean, really, when does she ever get a day off?).

 

“You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Travis said.

 

Katie frowned at that. He pouted and raised his hand towards her head, but she caught his wrist just in time to stop him from ruffling it.

 

“Fine,” she said, letting their hands fall but not releasing his wrist yet. “I’ll go.”

 

He smiled widely and she felt compelled to smile back awkwardly as an odd sensation began in her stomach.

 

That was the moment Travis made the mistake of twisting his arm until her grip wasn’t on his wrist, rather than that, it was on his hand.

 

Katie felt blood rush towards her ears.

 

“Good! I look forward to it!” He said, swinging their intertwined hands happily.

 

_Stab him. You should stab him. Or at least pull your arm away, Katie!_

 

Yet she remained unmoving. Staring blankly up at his face as blood pounded in her ears.

 

They stayed like that for a second, before Katie regained control of her limbs and forcefully pulled her hand away.

 

“Right, good,” she muttered. “It’s late, I should go. Miranda will worry.”

 

“Oh, alright,” Travis said. His voice was nonchalant enough, but his eyebrows twitched as he spoke. “I will see you tomorrow, then. Good night, lady!”

 

“Good night, sir,” Katie bowed quickly and turned to leave.

 

“Hey, lady?”

 

Katie stopped on her tracks.

 

“Yes, Your Highness?”

 

“You know you don’t have to call me that, right? Actually, if it isn’t much of a bother, please abstain from it. Nobody does and it feels odd. ‘Prince Travis’ or just ‘Travis’ is enough.”

 

Katie turned her head to look at him. He hadn’t moved an inch, but his hands were now in his pants’ pockets and his back was hunched over.

 

“I mean it,” he said grumpily.

 

“I’ll take it into consideration,” she replied.

 

 

PoPoPoPoPo

 

 

It happened the next day, sometime around four.

 

Katie had been sitting on the windowsill at the library, book in hand but mind someplace completely unrelated, as Miranda and Isaac poured over documents spread out on a wide table.

 

“He has really big hands,” Katie muttered viciously, gripping the book tight enough to bend. “Really big and really warm hands. How is that fair?”

 

“Did you say something, Katie?” Isaac asked, keeping his eyes on his work before him.

 

“What?” She snapped out of her trance and hurried to flip over the page of the book (whatever was it about, anyway? She knew not). “No, nothing.”

 

For the past couple of hours, Katie had found herself unable to concentrate properly on any of her tasks. While helping Miranda dress, she noticed a bouquet of bright orange calendulas swaying under the morning sunlight on a vase by the window and she couldn’t keep the image of bright orange curls swaying with the cold winter air from her mind; she’d tried so hard she ended up squeezing her eyes shut and muttering something along the lines of: “piss off”. Later on, when she’d sat at the table with Isaac and Miranda, she’d found a nice and round tangerine waiting on her plate. It was carrots at lunchtime.

 

She seemed to be getting haunted by the color orange and she was loosing her mind.

 

“It’s almost time for my meeting with Fynn and his guards,” said Isaac, stepping away from the table. “Maybe you two should take a rest. We’ve been at this for nearly three hours.”

 

“Good thinking. Should we go spy on Isaac’s meeting, Miranda?” Katie grinned, earning herself a shove from Isaac.

 

“You’re more than welcome to do that,” he sighed in mock displeasure. “Having to worry about your incompetent abilities to be sneaky might make this whole thing a little less boring.”

 

“Oh, come on, Isaac,” giggled Miranda. “You love Fynn! He is always charming.”

 

“He is always an ass, but I’ll tell him you said that,” he said with a smile. “See you both later.”

 

“Bye!”

 

“Good luck!”

 

The moment the door closed behind the dark-skinned boy, Miranda turned to face her friend with a concerned pout.

 

“Now,” she began. “Will you tel me what’s been bugging you all day?”

 

An odd mixture of frustration, confusion, and a dash of annoyance crossed Katie’s face.

 

“It isn’t as if there is something bothering me,” she murmured. “I just can’t seem to concentrate on anything today. My mind keeps wandering and then there are those omens…”

 

“Omens?” 

 

“Yes, omens.” Katie said firmly. She jumped down from the windowsill and hurried to sit on a chair next to Miranda’s. “Omens about the prince’s. But they aren’t bad omens. Or good omens. They just are…there. I keep finding them everywhere.”

 

Miranda seemed to be getting more confused by the second.

 

“It all started this morning –no, it was last night,” Katie decided.

 

“Katie, what on earth…”

 

“No, listen, Miranda. There’s something I have not told you or Isaac,” Katie explained. “I’d much rather if you didn’t tell Isaac, though. Regardless, last night, after talking with the king, I ran into prince Travis. We talked for a bit about…”

 

Katie could not recall him asking her to keep his plan a secret, but she decided to keep that bit of informationto herself.

 

“About?”

 

“Well, it was nothing of importance. Just small talk. But after that conversation I went straight to bed and this morning the omens began to appear! It happens at random times; when I see something or touch something my mind immediately goes to last night’s conversation with Travis and I don’t know what this means!”

 

Even though she’d kept her voice barely above a whisper, Miranda looked as if she’d just been screeched at.

 

“Katie, you have to calm down.”

 

“I am calm.”

 

And she was…or appeared to be.

 

“What you’re describing,” Miranda said, taking her friend’s hand gently. “I doubt they are omens.”

 

“Then what would you call them?”

 

All of a sudden, the door to the library swung open and in strutted a man in expensive clothes and a forest of bright orange curls atop his head.

 

“Did we accidentally summon him?” Katie muttered under her breath.

 

“Good day, Princess Miranda. Lady Katie,” he greeted bowing before them. Miranda and Katie stood up and curtsied in response.

 

“Good day, Prince Travis,” said Miranda. “What brings you to the library?”

 

“I was looking for you, actually,” he said.

 

“Were you?” Miranda appeared slightly surprised. “Well, you have found me. How may I help you?”

 

“I have a proposition to make.” Travis met Katie’s amused smile with a mischievous look before he continued. “Would her Highness grace me with her company for an afternoon downtown? There is a play I have been meaning to watch.”

 

“A play?”

 

“Yes. Have you ever heard of the Jupiter Traveling Theater Crew?” Noting her silence, he proceeded. “They are famous for their unusual stories and superb talent. I heard they were scheduled to pass through the kingdom of Demeter by tonight at the latest and tomorrow there shall be a performance.”

 

“Oh, I see,” Miranda said. “While I would certainly love to go, there is no way I will ever be allowed. A noble girl watching a play amongst ‘common folk’, as some would say, is badly looked upon by many in this court. Annoying as it may be.”

 

“Ah, but that is the fun part, princess” Travis’ grin grew impossibly. “Nobody will know you’ve left your post.”

 

“Are you suggesting–?”

 

“You sneak-out? Of course.”

 

“With all due respect, Prince Travis, that is insane.” Her brow was furrowed but the princess could not keep the laughter from her voice.

 

“Well, yes, but I have a plan,” Travis nodded in Katie’s direction. “We’ll just need Katie’s help.”

 

 

PoPoPoPoPo

 

 

The next day, Katie could hardly keep still. After all, it wasn’t every day she got time off to do something as fun as strolling downtown. She kept imagining herself walking down the cobbled streets, her best friend by her side, bickering with Travis, watching the play together, laughing together, talking together…

 

“You wanted to speak to me, Katie?”

 

Of course, there was a small hindrance getting in her way. His name was Isaac Cedar.

 

“Yes, I forgot to mention this yesterday but Miranda and I have some lady things to do this afternoon.” Katie spewed the very-much-rehearsed phrase Travis had planned for her the day before.

 

“Oh, that’s fine. We didn’t have anything of importance scheduled,” Isaac said. “So, what are we doing, exactly?”

 

It took Katie a second to process that statement.

 

“ _Lady_ things, Isaac. I said ‘lady things’. And as far as I know, you are not a lady,” Katie shook her finger under his face.

 

“You mean you’ll be hanging out with Miranda all by yourself?” Isaac said, squirming in his shoes and appearing extremely uncomfortable. “I think it would be best if I went along. Ladies should always be accompanied by a man just in case something were to go wrong…”

 

Katie stared up at him, mouth agape and eyes wide in an incredulous manner. 

 

“Are you being serious right now, Isaac? Are you being bloody–ok, are you even aware of how many times I’ve had to rescue your manly butt from dangerous situations? I am better than most knights!”

 

Isaac flinched harder with every word.

 

“Right, you are a swordswoman… I still think I should… I want to go with you and Miranda. It is the first time we have an afternoon to ourselves and I really want to spend it with her–sorry, you both. My good old friends.”

 

“Isaac,” Katie sighed. “Isaac, no. You cannot come. I’m sorry, it would be too…awkward? Yes.”

 

Isaac frowned, his pale eyes locked on Katie’s as blood started to rush to his face, turning his cheeks a darker shade.

 

“Alright, I won’t beg,” he said. “But what on earth are you going to be doing?”

 

“I already told you,” Katie chuckled nervously. “Just…lady things.”

 

 

PoPoPoPoPo

 

 

“Is everything ready?”

 

“Did you do your part? Got rid of Isaac?”

 

“Yes, of course I did. He doesn’t suspect a thing.”

 

Katie stood face to face with Travis; how did that work? It just so happened that she’d been walking down a hall with arches that opened out to the gardens. Travis had been taking a walk amongst bushes of sweet alyssum when he’d spotted her coming his way and stopped by an arch. Said hall was a couple of inches above natural ground level.

 

_And it felt great to be able to look into his eyes without getting neck pains._

 

“Perfect,” he said. “Go get Miranda and lets meet by the north-west servant’s entrance.”

 

“Right. See you then.” Katie made to walk away just as Travis stuck out his hand in front of her chest. She squidded to a halt.

 

“Uh…” She felt her ears burn as she stared transfixed at the hand; memories of how warm it felt that night making her mouth go slack.

 

“We should shake on it,” Travis explained, wiggling his fingers. “As accomplices?”

 

“Oh!” The spell was broken. Katie pulled her gaze up to his face and stretched out her hand. “Right.”

 

She tried her best to act unbothered while her heart thumped loudly in her ears. Her hand stopped just a breath shy from his but he automatically moved his to catch it.

 

The pounding got faster and faster and…

 

“Pleasure doing business with you, lady,” Travis said, smiling as brightly as always. “I’ll see you, then.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

As he let her go, Katie’s entire arm felt numb. No, it wasn’t numb, it was like the presence of his warm hand had forgotten to leave with him and it still laid upon hers.

 

_Snap out of it, Katie! You’ve got to get Miranda._

 

Shaking her head frantically to brush off the strange feeling, Katie began to jog on her way to the Princess’ chambers.

 

 

PoPoPoPoPo

 

 

Once she’d picked Miranda up, Katie and she made their way down to the servant’s north-west entrance as inconspicuously as they possibly could.

 

“What did you tell Isaac?” Miranda wondered. “Did he not question you much?”

 

“I told him we had some important matters to attend,” Katie replied. “Said they were _lady things_.”

 

“And he backed down just like that?!” She raised her dark eyebrows incredulous.

 

“No, of course not,” Katie snorted. “He still wanted to come.”

 

“Oh, I wish we’d brought him. It’s always much more fun when he is around,” Miranda sighed as a strand of hair fell from her carefully done crown braid. “Poor Isaac. He really does hate feeling left out.”

 

“He’ll live.”

 

“Probably, but he’ll be sad.”

 

“I don’t get you. I really don’t.” Katie said, bursting out laughing at her friend’s pout.

 

As they turned the last corner, the girls spotted Travis standing against the wooden door. He wore the same lousy outfit Katie had seen the first time they met and that other night, but he’d added a dark brown winter cape to it this time (that somehow made him look shadier).

 

“Hello, Your Highness,” he greeted Miranda with a gracious bow. “Lady Katie.”

 

“Hello, Prince Travis. That is an odd outfit you are wearing,” Miranda curtsied back, holding back a grin.

 

“I thought we’d agreed to try and blend in,” he said.

 

“Yes, but you sort of look like a crook,” Katie pointed out seriously. He snorted at that and she couldn’t stop a small smile from showing.

 

Both Katie and Miranda had worn some of their simpler clothing; Miranda’s dress considerably less so than Katie’s old pants and pale tunic.

 

“I’ve got something that might help you both,” Travis said. He walked to the corner of the room and picked up a bunch of heavy clothes in various colors from the floor. “I figured you’d wear something flashy, so I picked this up from a stowage.”

 

He handed a silver one to Miranda and a yellow one to Katie.

 

“Old coats?” The latter looked hers up and down.

 

“ _Warm_ old coats, lady,” he clarified. “Your coats are too good to pass as a peasant’s. You can leave them here and we’ll pick them up once we get back.”

 

“Alright,” said Miranda, stepping forward and grabbing the door handle. “We should get going or else we won’t make it on–.”

 

“And where do _you_ think you are going?”

 

The trio felt the blood freeze in their veins.

 

_Crap_.

 

_We’ve been caught._

 

“Travis, what do you think –is that Princess Miranda?!”

 

Travis flinched and looking up to the sky he whispered: “Why?”

 

Slowly, they turned around to face whoever had just caught them red-handed.

 

“Hey there, Gaspard,” Travis waved in mock friendliness. “Fancy running into you here.”

 

Ignoring his prince’s greeting, the guard bowed in Miranda’s direction.

 

“Your Highness,” he said. “I apologize for any misconduct or burdens imposed on you by the prince of Hermes.”

 

“Is that how lowly you think of me?! A burden?!” Travis whined. “Hey Gaspard! Don’t ignore me!”

 

Keeping his face as serious as ever, Gaspard next turned to Katie and bowed his head.

 

“Miss Gardner. Always a pleasure.”

 

She curtsied back absentmindedly, opening her mouth to say something but regretting it and closing it again quickly.

 

“Gaspard, it is not what it looked like,” Travis said, walking to stand in front of his guard.

 

“And what does it look like?” He asked, his face still impassive.

 

Travis frowned and turned back to the ladies.

 

“You should go. Give me the capes and take yours back.”

 

“Wait,” Miranda said. “Travis is right, this is not what it looks like. We did nothing wrong.”

 

“I am perfectly aware of that, Your Highness. You did nothing wrong _yet_. But you three were about to leave the castle grounds without authorization,” Gaspard said. “Did your aide know about this? Because I, for sure, had no idea and neither did Connor.” At this he turned to glare at Travis.

 

“Yes, my aide knew. She is standing right there,” Miranda nodded at Katie.

 

“What about Isaac?”

 

“We don’t always do everything together,” Katie grumbled.

 

“What would you have done if something were to go wrong? What if you were recognized and things turned sour?”

 

“Well, that’s why I’m here!” Katie argued. “And Travis is a great swordsman, too. We would have been fine.”

 

“You cannot fight your way out of every single situation, Katie,” Gaspard snapped. “That was terribly irresponsible and, unless you want me to spill the beans to your fellow aide and to prince Connor, I would quietly walk back to your chambers.”

 

“Oh come on, Gaspard! We just want to see a play. You can come with us! Would you like that? You love theater!” Travis complained as the three of them stumbled grumpily back into the castle.

 

Gaspard walked them all the way to Miranda’s door, where he bowed and began to drag Travis away.

 

“Wait!” Katie exclaimed. Turning to Miranda, she said: “Go ahead, I just want to have a word with Travis.”

 

She hurried to catch up to the prince and angry Gaspard.

 

“There’s another way,” she said. “There’s another way for you to take Miranda to see the play.”

 

“There is?” The prince’s grumpy face melted into one of curiosity.

 

“Yes. You can send a messenger downtown to invite the theater company to perform tonight after dinner at the castle,” she explained. “And you could hold this event specifically for Miranda; as in, make it a private thing.”

 

“Look, Katie–.”

 

“I know it’s not the same as going into town yourselves,” Katie interrupted. “Not as romantic and whatnot. But it’s something…and Miranda would appreciate the effort, wouldn’t she?”

 

Travis and Gaspard contemplated the girl for a second.

 

“It’s a good idea,” Gaspard agreed. “And perfectly allowed.”

 

“I guess it’s better than nothing,” Travis grumbled. Then, with a sigh he said: “I’m sorry Katie. I know you wanted to go out. It’s too bad this stick-in-the-butt caught up with us.”

 

“Now, Travis, lets not be vulgar,” Gaspard said, patting the prince’s shoulder as the latter stuck his tongue out at him.

 

“Ok,” Travis said. “Let’s go get this plan done! Katie, you’re the best! Lets go Gaspard!”

 

 

 

PoPoPoPoPo

 

 

 

When Isaac found out, he went livid.

 

“I can’t believe you guys planned a trip into town WITH Prince Travis but WITHOUT ME! Does our friendship mean absolutely NOTHING?! That was INCREDIBLY RUDE OF BOTH OF YOU!”

 

As he ranted, he walked from one side of the room to the other, gesturing frantically.

 

“Isaac, we are sorry. Calm down. And stop pacing!” Katie groaned from her place, sprawled on the couch.

 

“Calm down?!” He exclaimed, outraged. “You betrayed me! Both of you!”

 

“We didn’t _betray_ you,” Katie sat up with a huff. “That’s dramatic. And we already apologized plenty–.”

 

“I am not dramatic and you can stick your apologies up your–!”

 

“Isaac,” Miranda warned.

 

Said boy turned to face the princess and took a step towards her, clenched fists and eyes burning.

 

“No. Don’t start with that, Miranda. I am so angry at you right now, you have no idea,” he growled.

 

“Oh will you stop it?!” Miranda exclaimed. Tossing her head up, she crossed her arms and stepped right under his nose. “Why are you being like this, huh? It was not that big of a deal –no, shut up. I mean it, Isaac. Why on earth does it bother you so much?”

 

They stayed like that for a couple of seconds, silently glaring at each other, until Isaac, heaving a sigh, took a step back.

 

“Sorry for snapping at you, Princess,” he said. His voice was calm but, going by the look in his eyes, Katie could tell he was anything _but_.

 

“It’s fine,” Miranda replied, trying to meet Isaac’s eyes. As soon as she did, the boy quickly turned away and cleared his throat.

 

“I have to go check with the kitchen what’s in the menu for dinner,” he said, hurrying to the door with stiff, almost awkward, movements, and shutting it behind him.

 

Katie watched the exchange intently. Right as he left, she saw Miranda’s brow furrow.

 

_What’s wrong with him?_

 

 

PoPoPoPoPo

 

 

“Lady Katie! Katie Gardner! Katie wait up!”

 

Katie stopped in her tracks as prince Travis caught up to her.

 

“Hey,” she greeted. “Is something the matter?”

 

“What? No, nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to let you know Gaspard managed to get in contact with the theater crew. They agreed to have a show here tonight.”

 

“Really? That’s great news!” Katie beamed. “Miranda will be delighted!”

 

“I hope so,” Travis chuckled, reaching a hand up to rub his neck awkwardly. “Listen, Katie. About what you said earlier –the ‘making it a private thing’ thing–, I think it would be better if you were there too. You and Isaac and Gaspard and Connor…”

 

“What do you–? You want to invite Connor?! Didn’t you say you wanted to beat him? Win the princess’ favor over him?” Katie asked, confused.

 

“Yes, of course I want to beat him. But I also figured…well, I thought it would get slightly uncomfortable if it were only the two of us. And even if Connor is there, the princess will know it was me who made it happen –well, with your help, of course–.” Travis explained. “What do you say, Katie?”

 

“I guess you could be right,” she reasoned. “And I won’t lie, I’ve got no complaint about getting to watch romance unfold…”

 

“Katie.”

 

“In the play, geez. Of course I mean in the play!” She laughed at his frown. “It’s a good idea, Travis. It’ll be fun!”

 

“Has anybody ever told you that you are amazing?” He asked and, for a moment, Katie felt an oddly warm sensation spreading from her stomach.

 

Mentally pinching herself out of a trance, she managed to say:

 

“Yes. Of course.”

 

Travis snorted. She cackled loudly.

**Author's Note:**

> See you soon, guys!


End file.
